Falling
by irshgirl
Summary: Secretly dating , Quinn and Logan navigate falling in love admist their friends drama and complications along with the usual craziness a semester at PCA brings .
1. Chapter 1

A/N : Hello readers, I bet your all quite surprised to see me delving into a Zoey 101 story since I'm knee deep in Victorious and Cabbie drama in Hearts a Fire and plotting Hearts Always . Rest assured , I still have plenty of juicy stuff ahead for Victorious but I recently added a new TV package to my cable and was introduced to Zoey 101 between my Victorious mode and got hooked .

My good friend SouthernB3elle was thrilled to find me intrigued ( this was her first fandom) and has been a godsend on helping me with this from brainstorming with me to answering my weird, often random thoughts . If you haven't read her work in Victorious, Icarly, sonny with a chance , and Zoey 101 I encourage you to rush right over and do so. She is wonderful .

Massive hugs and many thank you's and here we go, welcome to Charityverse's Zoey 101 universe and hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer : Nope , I don't own Zoey 101 , just playing around at Pacific Coast Academy .

Logan Reese had kissed Quinn Pensky and liked it .

It was insane , unbelievable , and he wanted to turn around and do it again .

There was no logic, nothing to make sense of, but the fact was the kiss had proved that there was something between him and Quinn.

He could still taste the cherry lip-gloss on his lips from her as he tried to make sense , tried to understand what had literally just happened here .

He was a jock, the rich boy, the best looking guy at Pacific Coast Academy .

Quinn was a genius, a scientist , and the prettiest geek that he had ever seen ( damn ! There he went again thinking about her looks ) and they had spent the better part of two years fighting and hating each others guts .

Now hating her was the farthest thing from his mind , not that he had actually really hated her in the first place . She challenged him.

Mark Del Figgalo , that boring loser, had broken up with Quinn and Logan just happened to be riding by on his Jet X when he had discovered her sitting alone on a bench , crying .

It had seemed the most natural thing to comfort her .

Quinn didn't look like herself -oh, sure she looked really hot with her long brown hair straightened , she wore a little skirt and burgundy tank top, and more make up than he had ever seen on her but it wasn't until he'd placed her glasses back on her face that he had found Quinn again .

The kiss had been unexpected , touching her had been electric , and now as he made his way across the campus to his dorm, all Logan could think about was turning back around, finding her, and kissing Quinn senseless .

Clearly he was losing his mind ! How weird was that ? How else could he explain the way he was feeling ..and this new need that seemed to come out of nowhere but reverberated throughout his entire system and it had only been one kiss .

He didn't know what was happening to him !

Logan prayed that his roommates , Michael Barrett and James Garrett , were out because he couldn't deal with them in the current state that he was in right now . The last thing he needed was their dumb questions because his mood was sure to tip them off that something was going on with him .

Even now if he closed his eyes all he could focus on was the sadness and the emotion he saw in Quinn's eyes when she leaned in for his kiss .

Del Figgalo was an ass for hurting her yet one part of him was relieved .

Quinn was free now .

Free to be with me .

Logan let out what might have been a low growl and a groan combined at the thought and making him crazier than he already was at the moment .

Quinn Pensky was so not his type .

He liked the girls he dated to be hot and easy- a movie , some making out, nothing serious.

Movie, make out, and move on .

Except if he were to admit the truth to himself lately his dating routine and the girls were getting stale and boring and maybe he was starting to feel like he needed more , something different .

He wasn't wired for relationships so why the hell was he thinking about them ?

Logan stopped pacing the floor , his mind wondering back to last year, and the chemistry incident . He didn't think about it often because it was the one thing he was kind of insecure about and it bugged him to be good at chemistry but there it was . He had gotten roped into tutoring Zoey Brooks and he hadn't wanted to ruin his reputation around campus so it appeared as if he and Zoey had a thing . Okay, he might have helped start the rumor but her anger and the crap that had came from it hadn't been pretty .

He had actually transferred into another chemistry class just so he wouldn't have to deal with it again but he wound up in class with Quinn.

It came to his mind easily and with a clarity he hadn't expected since he had blocked the whole thing from his mind but it was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

" **Logan, why don't you take a seat next to Quinn " **

" **Uh man .." he had grumbled as he slipped into the seat beside the scientist .**

**Quinn crinkled her nose and fixed him with a pointed look behind her glasses .**

" **I'm not thrilled about this either , Logan ," snapped Quinn, not unkindly ," but maybe if you hadn't spread malicious rumors about you and Zoey, you wouldn't have felt the need to switch classes like a coward that you are ." **

" **I was doing Brooks a favor, she needs to lighten up " shot back Logan, tamping down his anger as he noticed the flash of annoyance in her brown eyes .**

**A slow almost punch in the gut caught him off guard as he was suddenly caught by how amazing and pretty Quinn's eyes were . **

**Had her eyes always been this pretty before ? **

**Logan had never really paid much attention to a girls eyes before when other body parts were more fun but wow, her eyes were something else .**

" **Logan, if you think that you are just going to sit here like a lump and have me do all the work, you have another thing coming " said **Quinn, pushing her long, wavy brown hair off of her shoulders ," you might be a barbaric miscreant but Zoey swears you do know chemistry ."

**His gaze is drawn to her hair and the soft waves beckon him with the urge to run his hands through it and realizing where his mind was leading him, Logan tried to shake the evilness of his thoughts , horrified to be thinking about the nerd in the first place .**

He must be **tired to be looking and thinking about Quinn like that .**

Suddenly , Quinn thwacked his forehead , irritated at his lack of interest and weird staring .

" Logan, what is wrong with you ? Are you paying attention to me ?"

Logan shook his head and tried not to look at her . " Nothing, Pensky, " dismissed Logan, deciding to pretend he hadn't been thinking about her ," lets just finish this and never speak about it again ."

Quinn stared at him, baffled ." Never speak of what ?"

" Of working together " answered Logan , putting her out of his mind and ignoring her perfume ," I don't want people to know we're actually working together ."

Quinn made a disgusted face. " Like I do .."

Gah, her eyes were so brown and pretty !

Logan felt like he was spinning out of control as he paced in the empty dorm room , grateful the guys were out yet desperately in need of ..something . He needed to talk to someone who was knowledgeable - normally he was the one with all of the experience with women - but he was out of his element with all his feelings .

Michael was a good guy but the dude would broadcast it all over campus if he were to admit he was having actual feelings for one Quinn Pensky.

James was a decent guy and they were friends now but he was dating Zoey Brooks , who happened to be one of Quinn's best friends and one of her roommates so that was out .

Suddenly the realization was as clear as day , he needed to call Chase Matthews .

Chase had the whole boy next door thing going for him plus a head full of bushy dark hair but he was one of his friends and he was serious so he wouldn't steer him wrong .

The guy had been in love with Zoey since pretty much forever and though he had bombed terribly when he had finally admitted the truth to her , Logan knew his friend wouldn't judge him about Quinn and might be able to tell him what to do about it .

It really did suck that Chase was stuck over at Covington Boarding School in England ( long story , kinda romantic but his gesture to win over Zoey had failed badly which was why he was over there and Zoey was back at PCA dating James ) but you had to respect the dude had balls for trying to get his girl back.

None of that mattered though because Logan was desperate .

He dialed up his friend , waited impatiently for the webcam and the live chat to come on, as he paced , furiously , across the carpet in the room, glancing at his phone and hoping that maybe she would make things easy for him and call the shots .

Quinn was bossy .

No missed calls from Quinn or anyone else .

" Must your friends want to talk to you at this Godforsaken hour in the morning "

" Go to bed, Colin " shouted Chase , used to his annoying roommate as he rubbed his eyes, ambled over to the computer and clicked on the chat ," Michael , what's up ? Is something the matter with Zoey ?"

" I'm not Michael, you moron ! Zoey is fine and this isn't about her , man. Look I'd say that I'm sorry that I woke you but I'm not because I need your help, Chase ! "

Chase rubbed his eyes, awake now and stared in surprise to find a frantic Logan looking back at him. His friends perfect features were almost screwed up in conflicting emotions scattered across them and he seemed almost cagey and restless.

In all of the years that they had lived together at PCA, Chase didn't ever recall his friend this out of sorts . Except for the time when Logan's Dad had taken away his credit card but even then it didn't seem like it was the same so something was up.

" Am I dreaming ? Maybe I'm having a nightmare because there is no way that Logan Reese is asking for my help …"

Logan threw himself down in the chair in front of the computer with a heavy sigh .

" Stop being an idiot ! I'm being serious , Chase . I need your help "

Chase yawned , settled back in his chair , and grew serious . " Fine , its cool. What's the matter , Logan ? Did your dad take away your allowance ?"

" I kissed Quinn "

There it was out , he had told Chase , and this had better not be a mistake .

Chase gaped at him, incredulously . He had been expecting a number of troubles that his rich friend could get into but this wasn't one of them.

" Quinn as in our Quinn ? Weird , brilliant friend of ours ? That same Quinn ?"

" Yes ! Do you know of any other Quinn I would want to kiss ? " Logan couldn't sit still , he rose , and started pacing in front of his friend ," and just so I'm clear, I kissed her ! I wanted to kiss Quinn and I kind of think I've wanted to kiss her for a while ! "

" Wow , but you and Quinn have always mixed like oil and water ," replied Chase , thinking carefully about the situation ," they say opposites attract "

" If I wanted damn platitutudes , I could have watched Dr. Phil , Chase " Logan tugged at his perfect dark curls and stopped pacing ," you should have seen Quinn. She looked so amazingly hot but she didn't look like herself, you know , and she was crying …."

" Why didn't she look like herself ? Why was she crying ? This information might be helpful if you expect for me to help you, Logan ."

" Del Figgalo dumped her for Brooke Margolian ," explained Logan ," so Quinn dressed all hot to get him back but the ass just hurt her instead . Anyhow I ran into her when she was sitting on this bench crying and sad ….I stopped to comfort her ."

" You comforted Quinn ?" asked Chase because serious or not , it was hard to imagine the playboy taking the time to comfort the sensitive Quinn .

" I'm not a total jerk, you know ," defended Logan ," so , yeah, I was trying to comfort her cause Quinn doesn't deserve any of that crap . I don't know what happened …I put her glasses back on her and it was like there she was so I had to kiss her ."

Chase grinned . Now this beat the doldrums around stuffy old England anyday .

" Did Quinn kiss you back ?" asked Chase , feeling that it was important in the scheme of things . His mind drifted to the hundreds of times (he wished he had been as brave as Logan was) and kissed Zoey instead of being afraid and just dreaming of the right time .

Who knows how things might have turned out if he had only taking a chance ?

But he couldn't dwell on that …Zoey had a new boyfriend now and he , Chase Matthews , was stuck in Covington till the semester ended .

" Yea, she kissed me back ," answered Logan, a slow grin curving around his mouth ," so, what do I do ? This is Quinn and not some blonde bimbo …I think I have feelings for her . I mean, my heart is beating super fast and I cant stop thinking about her ! This isn't normal for me ! What do I do ?"

It was cool to see Logan freak out about a girl and the tone of his friends voice told him that he wasn't thinking of Quinn as another notch for his post but as something a whole lot more .

Was it possible that Logan Reese could be falling for a real girl ?

Chase was a man in love and thought he had first hand experience with the signs and he hoped his friend was because maybe it would do Logan some good .

" Chase , dude , your killing me here ! What should I do ? "

" You need to talk to Quinn about the kiss ," decided Chase , matter of fact," there's an off chance she was really hurt and your kiss made her feel better . I mean, I hate to say it but you know as much as I do that she really loved Del Figgalo and ..rebound ."

" Quinn isn't the type of girl to make me a rebound dude ! I..I don't think she loved him that much ….he didn't even treat her good ! " Logan got fired up just thinking about how badly that loser had treated Quinn ," you…..you don't think the kiss meant anything ?"

Chase watched his friend deflate and felt awful for bringing it up but knew Logan didn't like things sugar coated . His friend needed the truth .

" I don't know, man, I wasn't there ," continued Chase ," you were . I agree that Quinn is a good girl ..I'm just telling you to consider the possibility . I could be wrong too . You know my approach of avoid and not tell Zoey that I love her worked out well for me ….just don't do nothing like I did ." He paused , thoughtful ," Sounds to me like you really do like Quinn so you'd be stupid not to tell her …."

Logan placed his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh , digesting the advice .

" Tell Quinn that I want to date her ?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized that it was true but it was so wrong on so many levels though .

" You want to date Quinn ?" Chase couldn't resist teasing him because the whole thing was just so unbelievable but he hoped it was true . Sometimes the right girl for you was right in front of you and you just had to jump in with both feet and take a chance .

A slow smile played across Logan's face . " I think so "

" Well, good luck with Quinn ," encouraged Chase , " and I expect the play by play . No leaving me hanging wondering if Quinn laughed at you or zapped you with her laser watch ….I want updates, man ."

" Cool but you have to promise me that you wont breathe a word of this to anyone, Chase ," swore Logan , seriously ," don't tell Michael . I'm trusting you with this , dude ."

" Your secret is safe with me ," replied Chase , swallowing the lump in his throat ," so, Logan, I haven't talked to Zoey in a few weeks . How is she ? "

Logan was sympathetic to his friends plight ." Zoey is fine , " admitted Logan , wishing he had better news for his friend ," she's still with James . I'm sorry, man, I wish I had better news for you but I don't …you want me to try to break them up for you ?"

" Thanks for the offer but why don't you focus on Quinn ," said a quiet Chase , who had clung to the hope that Zoey and the new boyfriend wouldn't work out ," if Zoey is happy then I need to accept the fact and move on . Like she has …now get off of here so I can get some sleep and you need to go find Quinn and tell her the truth "

" Thanks, Chase " Logan signed out , gathered his jumbled thoughts , and tried to come up with a game plan to talk to Quinn in private . There was no way he was admitting having feelings to her when Lola and Zoey were in a room with her .

They needed to talk, privately .

Just then his cell went off and a grin slid across his handsome features .

We need to talk about earlier . In private . Meet me behind the patio of the lounge .

Do not be late . Quinn

" I'm no rebound guy " muttered Logan to himself as he typed out a response .

There were hundreds of reasons why the idea of him and Quinn Pensky were all wrong for each other but the more he replayed their kiss and their talk in his head , the more Logan realized the kiss had been everything right .

She might drive him crazy with her smart mouth and brains but maybe there had been a reason for that all along and this was his wake up call to find out if there was more between them than trading insults with each other .

Chase was right and Logan Reese was a man of action .

If the first kiss had made him this crazy, he wanted a second kiss with Quinn and that was exactly what he was going to do when he saw her .

Quinn Pensky wouldn't know what hit her .


	2. Chapter 2 no logic

Quinn couldn't think .

She was a practical young woman, a scientist, and thinking was part of her DNA.

It was who she was , what she did , and so it troubled her that her brain couldn't function properly after the days events with her not so successful attempt to get Mark back and then the unexpected kiss with Logan .

God , what had possessed her to kiss Logan Reese back ?

It was Logan, for Gods sake ! He was an insufferable, insensitive cretin who had been incredibly sweet to her when she had been feeling humiliated and heartbroken .

That must have been it - she wasn't in her right mind obviously and it hadn't meant anything . She had been upset over Mark and ….who would have thought Logan could be so gentle ?

Quinn tried to focus on the situation at hand , analyzing it from the mind of a scientist , and not that of a girl who had just had her heart broken by her beau of two years yet none of the factors that she knew like the back of her hand registered in her which infuriated her to no end ! When Logan had touched her it had been electric and yet sent shivers throughout her entire body and this couldn't be happening to her .

She must have some sort of chemical imbalance or some deep seeded pshological problem surrounding her relationship with Mark which is why it was making it impossible for her to think straight .

Quinn towel dried her hair, the curls springing to life , as she changed out of the skimpy outfit and into a pair of shorts and a pale pink bodice with flowy sleeves , feeling more like herself now as her mind kept detouring back to the sincerity in Logan's voice when he had slipped her glasses back on her face .

She had never heard him sound like that before , he sounded real and honest and she had believed him when he had called her pretty .

Why would he call her pretty ?

Yes she supposed they were friends in a way but he never went around flattering her - she just wasn't the brainless, trollop type of girl which was who he always went for yet she couldn't rationalize how wonderful it felt when his lips moved over hers .

She was vulnerable from the break up and clearly reading too much into one weird moment with Logan . It didn't mean anything even though she couldn't deny that her heart hadn't stopped racing since the kiss on the bench nor the traitorous thoughts of her heart that wanted to know how it would feel if he were to take her in his strong arms .

Yes, she was human and Logan was handsome yet annoying and grating with his ego .

She touched her lips, closing her eyes , and reliving the softness of the kiss as a new shock went through her system …what if she was attracted to Logan ?

It was a long shot but it was a possibility and one she couldn't dismiss but now that the moment of insanity had passed would Logan want to kiss her again ?

Quinn was almost 95% positive that he would be repulsed by the idea as she was and why was she considering them kissing again ?

Quinn dropped the towel on the couch and willed her breathing to return to normal .

Get a grip, Pensky ' Quinn scolded herself , biting her lower lip .

The door opened bringing in Zoey Brooks and Lola Martinez in a whirl of unbridled energy and worry for her well -being as they noticed her instantly and began to barrage her with fifty questions .

" Quinn, there you are ! We have been looking all over campus for you ! "

" When I said guys sometimes like skanky girls , I didn't mean you were supposed to turn into one, Quinn ! Mark isn't worth it ! "

" What happened with Mark ? Are you going to tell us ? I am so glad you look like you again "

" Are you guys back together or is he still with Brook ?"

Quinn sighed and lifted a hand to quiet them . " I spoke with Mark but he doesn't want me back ," admitted Quinn, feeling a dull ache in her chest ," he has this magical connection with Brooke that we didn't have …."

" I'm so sorry , Quinn, " the blonde was sympathetic as she patted her hand ," but maybe this is for the best . Mark hasn't been that attentive to you in a while …"

" He was still the love of my life, Zoey ," cracked Quinn, her mind drifting to Logan's tenderness with her and confusing her even more ," I understand that none of you particularly cared for my relationship with Mark but he made me happy ."

" He waited two years to kiss you " contributed Lola ," you can do better now . Didn't I always tell you he didn't count as a real guy , Quinn ?"

Quinn knew her best friend meant well but she just couldn't deal with it right now .

" LOLA PLEASE DON'T ! "

Logan was a vile pig so why oh why did she have this sudden urge to want to see him ?

There was nothing logical to this whole situation unless it was some sick, twisted joke that Logan was doing to humiliate her some more for all of PCA to revel in.

Except she didn't believe that he would be so cruel to her …..but she had to know .

" Quinn, what is with you ? Have you heard a word we've said to you ? I think this calls for some ice cream and some romantic chic flicks ….."

" We could bash Mark " offered Lola, pushing her dark hair off of her shoulders ," that's always fun . Or would you feel better if you used a Quinnvention on him ?"

Zoey fixed her with a knowing look ." Lola , she doesn't need to injure Mark to feel better ," reminded Zoey ,gently ," this is why we took her zap watch away from her earlier ! This isn't the way to get through a bad break up…."

She trailed off , her own mind bringing up an image of Chase and his goofy smile and blew out a breath. She missed him and he was her closest friend but she was with James now and she couldn't let her mind lose sight of the fact that they had waited too long to try to make a romance work between them .

Chase was in England and she was here - they had moved on .

She shouldn't be thinking about Chase when Quinn was clearly freaking out over Mark ending their two year relationship and she needed her best friends .

Right now the scientist had a far away look in her brown eyes that Zoey didn't recognize .

" Quinn, please , talk to us " begged the aspiring actress , plopping down beside her .

" Thanks, you guys, but I just need to digest and absorb what happened with Mark and me " managed Quinn, even as she sent a text off to Logan .

She had to know if the kiss meant anything to him because she had never felt more alive and wonderful than when Logan had kissed her , she had never felt the sparks when Mark had kissed her yet that had nearly electrocuted her when Logan pressed his lips to hers .

" I told you there were never any sparks between you and Mark " Lola made a face .

Quinn laughed ,nervously ." Sparks ..sparks ? I don't know what your talking about but I don't want to talk about this …any of this right now "

Lola and Zoey shared concerned expressions then faced their genius friend who looked ruffled and out of sorts . Mark had really done a number on her .

" Crying might help ," offered Zoey, watching as Quinn kept glancing at her phone ," Quinn, you'd shouldn't be texting Mark . I know he hurt you but you shouldn't keep torturing yourself over Del Figgalo ! "

" It's his loss ," added Lola , helpfully ," I know we could talk about how unemotional he was and then you could destroy everything he ever gave you . That's fun ."

Quinn barely heard Lola's rant , her mind drifting off to the sweetness of the kiss and her own sudden need to find out if it was a one time fluke while the other part of her yearned for Logan to kiss her again and prove her wrong .

" Quinn ! " Lola turned to Zoey , panicked ," She must be in break up shock still..I don't know if the normal things are going to work ."

Zoey grew serious . " You might be right …"

" Uh thanks a lot, guys, but I think I want to go for a walk …." Quinn decided , relieved that Logan had agreed to meet her .

Once that they both agreed that the kiss had been a terrible mistake and the sparks had been a figment of her broken heart then life could return back to normal and she could think clearly again . Stupid heart was messing with her brain .

" That's a good idea ," agreed Zoey ," we'll go with you ."

" The air will clear your mind …then we can get some doodle cakes " added Lola .

Quinn shook her head and backed closer to the door, nerves skittering around her like never before and hating the fact that she felt as if she could hardly confide in her best friends about this insanity that was going on within her .

They wouldn't believe it and she could hardly fathom it herself .

" Noooooo," protested Quinn, her voice wild and high ," I mean, I ..I appreciate it , you guys , but …I just need to go for a walk by myself ….bye ."

Before they could protest or join her , Quinn ran out of their dorm and around the corner , not waiting for their reactions to her weird behavior .

" Poor Quinn," Lola pursed her lips, thoughtfully ," she's really spazzing out over the break up . I know we didn't want Quinn to zap Mark but considering how much of a train wreck he's made her, can we maybe zap him ?"

Zoey lifted her eyes ." Lola , no , we can't …..maybe Quinn doesn't think we understand what she's feeling and doesn't want to cry in front of us ."

" That's silly , we're her best friends " decided Lola ," hey, did she ever say who she was texting ? She had better not be texting that jerk ….maybe we should find her a new guy."

"Lola ," reprimanded an understanding Zoey ," she doesn't need a new guy . It's too soon ….."

The words were out of her mouth before she realized it and she felt a tug of guilt in her own heart that was a reminder of what might have been with her and Chase .

No, it wasn't the same as what Quinn was going through .

Her relationship with James had just happened ..it wasn't anyone's fault that it had happened three weeks after her and Chase had decided to live their lives .

" Oh alright but she's still acting tooo weird ," decided Lola ," I don't like it ."

" I know ," agreed Zoey," we'll just keep an eye on Quinn in case she decides to do anything dangerous and stupid …"

Unbeknownst to her friends, Quinn was feeling quite afraid and almost reckless which were quite foreign to her as she made her way outside , looking furtively around for signs of Logan when hands reached for her , pulling her against the wall of the hidden patio .

" Quinn "

Quinn tried to remind herself to breath as she felt the awareness crackle between them.

" Logan ," rambled Quinn, trying not to get lost in the intense expression on his face as he stared at her ," I wanted to talk about what happened between us earlier . I mean, its so..crazy …and wrong on so many levels ..me and you . Mark and I make sense but I analyzed this to the best of my ability and …it's insane "

Logan reached out , hands going to her waist and pulled her against his chest, startling her and making her come alive all at once and rendering her speechless .

" I bet Del Figgalo didn't know what to do with you, Quinn, when he had you "

Quinn lifted her chin, their eyes locked ,as she challenged him ," So, Logan, what exactly are you going to do with me ?"

" For starters , this " Logan lowered his lips to hers , sliding her into a long , deep kiss that made her tremble all over and surrender to the need and the heat from him .

Quinn sighed and slid her arms around his neck, kissing him with a passion she never knew existed between them and yet made her feel vibrant , alive , and wanted .

There was no logic, no reason , just the magic that spun between Quinn and Logan .


	3. Chapter 3

The kiss was exhilarating , it spun and whirled , bringing out sensations unlike any that Quinn had ever felt before as Logan moved his mouth expertly over hers, deepening the kiss then just as she was found herself clinging to him, he simmered the passion to the slowest , tender kiss that had her melting within the circle of his arms .

She felt as if she was intoxicated and Logan was her taste of choice .

" Quinn " Logan stepped back, releasing her as he found himself even more overwhelmed by these newfound feelings for the pretty scientist in his arms . If the first kiss had been amazing this one was beyond any he had ever had and though nervousness joined the butterflies rattling around in his chest, he knew without a doubt that he couldn't ignore what was happening between them .

He wasn't even sure that he wanted to when just standing across from her had him wanting to reach out for her so he did, caressing her cheek, softly .

Quinn leaned into his touch then caught herself . " Logan , stop this ! " protested Quinn, hoping she sounded stronger than she felt . There wasn't a part of her that wasn't still trembling from their kiss ," what ….I don't understand ….why would ..why did you kiss me ..again ?"

A slow, sexy grin spread across his face as he took in the blush rising to her cheeks and the flustered look in her rich brown eyes which was starting to fascinate him more and more . Her lips were swollen from his kisses and damn if he didn't want to kiss her again.

" Del Figgalo ever kiss you like that, Quinn ? " challenged Logan, with a self satisfied smirk .

'No' thought Quinn, more to herself as she tried to concentrate when she still felt breathless and out of sorts . Obviously something was the matter with her and it was worse than she had expected and oh, why did Logan have to make her feel alive ?

" Mark and I had ..plenty of passion ," managed Quinn, trying to work through the fogginess of her brain to get angry at him," who put you up to this , Logan ? I thought …you were nice to me earlier ..why are you playing games with me ?'

She tried to steady the wild pounding of her heart and smoothed her lips , his intense gaze making her feel like those silly, heroines in the romance books that Zoey and Lola were always making her read .

" This is cruel , even for you, Logan ! "

Irritation bubbled to the surface and he caught her elbow with his hands , their eyes widening at the same time as the current pulsed the awareness between them .

" This isn't a game or a joke, Quinn ! I kissed you again because I wanted too ! Are you going to stand here and tell me you didn't feel that between us ?"

A shadow crossed her eyes along with her own doubts and insecurities making her unable to answer him properly . Mark had just shattered her heart within the course of 48 hours and now Logan Reese was kissing her and turning into this other guy she didn't know .

It was all too much !

Quinn chose to ignore the question instead, taking a page out of his book .

" I am not one of your brainless trollops , Logan, and I'm done trying to act like one ! The idea of something between us is wrong ! It's ludicrous and absurd and furthermore , I…I am not going to do whatever this experiment is with you ! "

" Do you always have to be this impossible ? "

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and tried to avoid him. " I hate you "

" Just admit that you felt something when we kissed , Quinn " asked Logan in unfamiliar territory and wanting to shake the answer out of her. He knew she felt something , it was written all over her beautiful face ," I ..felt something …I feel something ."

" Can't you see that I am nursing a broken heart ? Mark was the love of my life and the last thing that I need is you …and your stupid games , Logan Reese " dismissed Quinn, trying to be practical and level headed ," let's just forget about the kiss ."

" Maybe I don't want to forgot about them or us …" declared Logan, quietly .

" I'm leaving now ..goodnight, Logan " Quinn moved past him, ignoring the wounded expression on his handsome face and walking back inside to the dorm , and reached for the doorframe to hold onto as the kiss had reduced her legs to jelly .

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let Lola and Zoey console her so she couldn't put Mark Del Figgalo behind her and this craziness with Logan once and for all.

" Stubborn Pensky " muttered Logan to himself , driven now more than ever to prove her wrong . He wasn't some loser who would just walk away from her , he wanted answers from her and he would get them . He always got what he wanted .

Logan was pretty sure that he wanted Quinn Pensky .

As Logan made his way back to his dorm, he tried to understand this uncontrollable need for Quinn but couldn't . She had somehow gotten under his skin and stayed there .

He wasn't used to these butterflies and the nervousness ….no girl had ever made him freaking nervous before in his life !

Maybe she was right about the wrongness of them together but Logan felt strongly that this pull between them was right .

Was this the connection that Chase always yammered on about him and Zoey ?

If it was no wonder the dude was hopeless, these feelings were nuts !

" Logan, man," greeted Michael Barrett, dumping a handful of tee shirts and socks into a basket ," where you been ? You out with the latest flavor of the week ?'

" No, I had stuff to do " remarked Logan, searching the room for his other roommate .

Michael smiled , good-naturally . He was a husky young man with a brilliant smile and a penchant for the funny , a good guy all around , except for his big mouth .

" Not naming names tonight ? That's alright , " chuckled an amused Michael , used to the play by play from his friend ," save it till James gets back. Zoey sent him to go pick up ice cream for the girls ..some girl thing to make Quinn feel better ."

Logan couldn't help but sigh at the mention of her name and fought to mask his emotions .

" Why would Quinn need to feel better ?' He tried to act disinterested, when he was wondering if she would mention their encounters to her best friends .

Michael gave him a shove . " Have a heart, man ," told Michael ," the whole school is talking about how Mark broke up with her . Quinn's taking it pretty bad ….."

" Quinn can do better than that jackass " remarked Logan, grimly .

Michael fixed him with a look ." Right , I forgot how much you hate Del Figgalo "

" Don't you have laundry to do or something ?' asked Logan, impatiently .

" Yeah, I gotta go," informed Michael , with a casual grin ," Lisa and I are doing laundry together . Don't wait up for me …."

" You and Lisa haven't done anything ! She has you so whipped , dude "

" Shut up, Reese " said Michael , picking up his clackers and hitting them together for the sake of annoying his roommate ," you might try dating just one girl for a change and see how that works for you ..not that there are any girls left at PCA that would date you exclusively "

" You're such a girl " Logan tossed a sock at him as Michael disappeared out of the dorm .

He heard his friends laughter down the hall then closing the door firmly behind him, Logan paced across the room, lost in how perfect it had felt to hold Quinn in his arms , and refusing to take her rejection .

She wasn't about to ignore this thing between them because of Del Figgalo .

He wanted to know if it was just passion or if was more ?

Quinn was different from other girls he had hooked up with ..she didn't care about his money and his charms and good looks never really got to her but something changed between them somehow .

He dialed up England and waited for Chase's bushy hair to appear onscreen .

" Not again ! Do your sodden friends ever sleep ?"

Chase yawned , glowered at his roommate , and moved to his computer .

" Stop being a sod, you nit ! Go to sleep ! Co-lin ! "

Logan chuckled at the exchange and folded his hands then looked at his friend .

" How'd it go with Quinn ? You two a couple now or what ? What happened ?"

Logan leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the tension in his neck, wishing it had been easy .

" No and I don't get it , Chase ," Logan let loose , frustrated ," I kissed her again and dude , we could have been like burned by all the heat between me and Quinn ! God, that passion she has is like really hot ! I've made out with like hundreds of girls and they don't compare to Quinn…I mean, I cant believe I'm saying this about Quinn and me ."

" She turn you down flat , huh ?' asked Chase, knowingly .

" Wouldn't even admit that she melted in my arms ," said Logan , begin another round of pacing . Since his anger management classes he had been forced to take the year before , he had discovered that pacing helped to calm the anger building within him," thought I was being mean to her . Claims I was playing games with her and that she's all still heartbroken over Del Figgalo ….."

" You could give her time to get over Mark and I don't know, Logan, show her this new leaf your turning over " suggested Chase , missing PCA more and more everyday.

" That what you did when you dated Rebecca to show Zoey you moved on ?"

" That isn't what happened and you know it ! Besides I never kissed Zoey ! You've kissed Quinn twice in the same day, you moron ! I thought you wanted my help here or are you just going to forget about this whole thing and go back to being a manwhore ?"

" You never even got the girl, Matthews ! I don't know why I think you would be able to help me in the first place ! I don't need these feelings ….I can pretend just like she wants too .." yelled Logan then caught himself ," except dammit , I don't feel lonely when I'm with her, you know ."

Chase shook his head, missing Zoey and her vibrant energy and gorgeous smile .

" Man, this is great ," replied Chase , eager to help ," this is one for the books . I've never seen you this worked up over a girl before ….wonder how Quinn's doing ."

" Quinn is all still about that idiot that dumped her ! Maybe I ought to pummel him …"

" I forgot how well you take to rejection ," joked Chase ," good times ."

" She did not reject me ! I got to her ! " Logan threw himself back into the chair ," I shouldn't care that Quinn Pensky got to me but I do. God, why do I feel like I'm going to explode ? "

" Welcome to my world, my friend " said Chase with a salute to him.

" It sucks ," told Logan, tired ," this is why I don't do the whole relationship /commitment crap . Do I look like I'm cut out for all this sensitive chizz ? I'm not ….when did I lose my mind ? "

" Do you want examples ? Cause get Michael in here and we could give you some good ones "

Logan gave him a dirty look and the finger ." What should I do about Quinn ?'

" Considering how obsessive and insane you are , I think you only have a couple options, my friend," decided Chase , thinking carefully ," forget about the whole thing and go back to pretending your just friends. Sometimes this hurts worse but it does work , I speak from my own personal hell "

" I am not a loser ! I don't give up on things I want ! " shot back a pissed and confused Logan, who was terrified of exploring what she brought out in him and the fact that somehow in the course of the week his carefully erected walls were coming down .

There was no going back for him now .

" That's what I thought ," Chase smiled, thinly , wishing he had taken his own advice ," tell Quinn that you want to be with her . Go for it, dude ."

" Tell her that I want her ,' repeated Logan as if it was a foreign concept ," I'll be lucky if she doesn't try to kill me with one of her Quinnventions "

" I've heard you tell a number of girls that you wanted them, Logan ,' reminded Chase ," pretty sure it's a standard Logan Reese line or something . shouldn't you have it like perfected by now ? "

" Quinn isn't other girls " admitted Logan, quietly ," she's stubborn and annoying ."

" Just go snog the bloody girl and be done with it ! " interjected Colin, annoyed .

" Don't be giving my friend advice , git ! " hollered back Chase , wishing he was back at PCA, hanging with his buds in their dorm, and getting this drama with his own eyes .

Logan grew serious ." I've lost my mind ," muttered a scared Logan ," I've never wanted to put this much effort over a girl before ….it's weird and unnatural ."

Chase leaned forward as if confiding a secret ." For what its worth, I think the idea of you and Quinn together is pretty amazing ."

" Thanks ," Logan was appreciative ," she can blame Del Figgalo all she wants but I always get the girl ."

" Or girls "

" This time its only Quinn " said Logan, his mind made up ," I'll change her mind about me ."

" Logan, why is the door locked ? Do you have another girl in there with you ?'

" Crap, it's James ," groaned a aggravated Logan ," I gotta go but thanks for everything . You know , Chase , you could get back in the game and call Zoey …."

" Goodnight, Logan ," said a resigned Chase , " tell Michael we'll talk later . Oh hey, give Quinn a couple more days before you try another tactic ..Zoey and Lola are bound to be helping her get over the break up."

" Logan, who are you talking too ? Let me in the room " said James , tiredly ," I just got roped into spending an hour and a half being the reassurance guy to Quinn. At this point, I will pretty much listen to whatever stupid story you have to talk about ."

" Bye " Logan ended the conversation with Chase and flung open the door where the blonde haired conservative James Garrett stood with a grimace on his face ," sorry about that. I was just admiring myself in the mirror and listening to music ..didn't realize I locked the door ."

" The radio isn't on " pointed out James , tossing him a Blix ," I adore Zoey but listening to them trying to make Quinn feel better about Mark was painful."

" How is Quinn ?' Logan tried to be nonchalant ," not that I care about that nerd but you know, Del Figgalo was an idiot for dumping her ."

" I don't know ,sad , I guess ," said James ," I don't really know Quinn all that well . I just thought she was in a weird mood ….for her , anyhow ."

" Oh " Logan trying to think of a new tactic to appeal to the brainy girl ," yeah, that makes sense . So was Quinn all crying over him and stuff ?"

" Zo and Lola kept trying to make her cry over him but she seemed fine "explained James ," I didn't think you liked Quinn . I mean, I didn't think you were that great of friends or anything since you guys always fight with each other ."

" Pensky and I have a weird relationship , I cant explain it " shrugged Logan, simply .

" Now your acting weird ," declared a suspicious James ," are you sure I wasn't interrupting something illegal or anything , Logan ?"

" Mind your own business, James " snapped Logan , thinking that it would take more than the normal charm to appeal to Quinn and if there was one thing he had learned from watching her with that ex-boyfriend of hers , she might be a science nerd but she was still a girl who wanted romance .

Del Figgalo never gave her romance but he sure as hell would .


	4. Chapter 4

Quinn had discovered through her own contemplation and with the help of Zoey and Lola that her relationship with Mark had been in reality floundering for quite some time and maybe she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself . Yes, she still hurt from the break up but hadn't she been pushing him for more romance , more dedication to her, and to them for the better part of the year now ?

It was true and looking back, she knew that try as she might , there had never been a deep passion between them. Mark just didn't have any passion in him ..or at least for her .

Though the ache in her chest was dull, Quinn would survive and move on .

Logan .

She couldn't stop thinking about him and their encounters and it scared her .

It would have been so easy to believe he was simply delighting in tormenting her, toying with her emotions just to jest but Quinn still heard the sincerity in his voice and the way he had kissed her - she could capture the electricity that magnified between them and create a force field with it . It was that powerful .

Maybe she had been rash to run away from him the other night but he hadn't been acting like himself at all since their encounter and the kisses , she was unnerved .

Quinn didn't like being unnerved and unsettled , it was bad .

" Quinn," called out Coco Wexler, a heavy set blonde dressed casual in jeans and a PCA tee shirt approached her . She was the girls dorm advisor ," this came for you ."

" What ?'

" I'm having an apple " announced Coco, shoving a banana apple bouquet in the scientists arms," it was delivered a few minutes ago ."

" Who would send me a fruit bouquet ?" muttered Quinn, baffled and touched as she placed it on the table , smiling at the silliness and the sweetness of the gift.

" Maybe your ex-boyfriend , I don't know ," Coco munched on the apple ," hey , give me a banana .."

" Bye, Coco " Quinn smiled then shut the door in her face as she found a small note and hesitated only a second before opening it .

**I don't really do this kind of thing but I know apples and bananas are your favorite fruits . I swear , I didn't do anything to them. I wouldn't .**

**Will you please meet me behind the patio at Maxwell hall so w can talk . Logan **

Touched and genuinely intrigued , Quinn knew she had to find out what was up with him. She didn't even know that Logan knew anything about her and it really was a sweet gesture for him …..and she might have overreacted after he had kissed her senseless .

**She certainly **hadn't been thinking straight , that was for sure .

" I cant believe that you turned down Riker Hall , Lola ," Zoey was saying as the girls entered the dorm , talking animatedly ," he is one of the best looking guys on the football team. I thought you were interested in him ?"

" I was but then Michael and Logan swore that he makes Logan look like a saint ," explained Lola, reaching in a mini fridge and pulling out a Blix to drink ," there is no way I am going out with a skunk bag like that ! Oh hey Quinn, where did we get the fruit flowers ?"

Quinn hid the card , quickly ." Um, the fruit …yeah, it was a gift for me ."

She loved her friends dearly but she wasn't clear what was happening between her and Logan or if it were anything at all but it was much too early to have them meddle in whatever it might be . Besides , Lola hated Logan much more than Zoey did.

Zoey examined it ." Who got you fruit, Quinn ? "

Quinn thought fast on her feet , going with the first thing on her mind and hoping they wouldn't do anything .

" Uh, Mark," lied Quinn, nervously ," he's ..trying to apologize for ..humiliating me and thought fruit might help . Stupid Mark ! "

" We should throw them out then " suggested a blood thirsty Lola , eying the fruit with an evil eye ," he never even got you flowers or anything but that stupid picture of himself when you guys were dating ! Now he gives you apology fruit ! "

" Down, girl ," said Zoey, calmly ," it isn't the fruits fault and besides I'm sure it was an expensive bouquet . Isn't that right, Quinn ?"

Quinn smiled at them, hiding her nervousness ." Right and I will eat the fruits ," went on Quinn ,tucking the note in her pocket ," no sense in being wasteful . So, what's up ?"

" We're getting ready to go watch James and Michael play basketball " told Zoey, matter of fact ," you want to come with ? Lisa is going to meet us on the court ….."

Lisa was Lisa Perkins, who was friends with the girls and was Michael's girlfriend .

" Maybe later ," says Quinn, with a laugh ," I have to go get some more plutonium for my newest Quinnvention …..I really need to work on it . You know, nice distraction from Mark and everything but you guys go and have fun ."

" I really don't think being by yourself is a wise idea, Quinn ," offered Zoey , wary of her friends motives ," let alone working on a Quinnvention that could be harmful to you …"

" I am perfectly fine, Zoey ," reassured Quinn and felt as if she was telling the truth ," I promise you I'm complelty done sulking over Mark Del Figgalo ."

" You wouldn't know if you were or not ," this came from Lola ," you haven't even cried over that thing yet ! You need to listen to us, Quinn , because we totally know all about bad break ups and I am the expert on men ."

Zoey gave her a look as if saying 'Really ?" but the actress wasn't phased a bit .

" Will you at least meet us there later ? Think about it, Quinn ."

" You guys are sweet ," Quinn was thankful to have them but she needed to see Logan ," and I might drop by to hang out later . I'll see ….so, have fun and I'm just going to go and get that plutonium now ."

She gave them hugs then backed out the door as she sent Logan a text saying that she was on her way to meet him.

" I must be out of my mind " muttered Quinn, under her breath .

" She always makes me afraid when she makes stuff with the Pluto stuff ," Lola examined the bouquet ," I thought Quinn would be over Del Figgalo by now ."

" It's only been a day, Lola," reminded Zoey, brushing her hair ," what are you doing ?"

" Looking for a card ," Lola pulled off a banana ," I want to see what kind of crap Mark had to say to Quinn after all the crap he's already did to her . She is too calm for Quinn…"

" Is there a card ?" asked a curious Zoey , joining her friend to look .

Neither one of them really ever understood what Quinn had seen in Mark Del Figgalo - the guy was emotionless and dull as dirt - but he had done dirty to their friend so a big bowl of revenge was plausible if he was still messing with her emotions .

" Quinn must have it ," said Lola , crossing her arms ," I'd love to give him a piece of my mind ….or maybe I can ruin Brooke Margolian socially here at PCA ."

" Your going to fix her up with Logan ?" joked Zoey , with a laugh ," that would be social suicide with his reputation ….don't even do it . I was joking ! "

" You were almost serious,Zoey ! Come on, it'll be fun and it'll help Quinn ! "

" Maybe we should just let Quinn play with her Plutonium and leave Mark alone " suggested Zoey, checking her email , anxiously .

It had been a few weeks since she had heard from Chase and she missed him.

Maybe she should send him one and find out how he was doing , if he was dating anyone, or anything or just trying to like Covington .

" Zo, what's with you ? Why do you have Chase face ? " demanded Lola, plopping down on the bed beside her friend ," Did he send you a message ?"

Zoey heaved a tired sigh . She loved Lola to death but the girl could make something out of nothing super fast ! She needed to hold her off before she could think of something .

" I don't know what your talking about ," dismissed a serious Zoey," I was thinking about how James is going to be mad at me if we're late so come on, Lola ."

" Have you heard from Chase ," brought up Lola ," I mean, since Michael and Logan told him about you and James before you told him ?"

Zoey was thoughtful. " No but Chase and I are best friends ," said Zoey , as if it was her new mantra ," we agreed it was fine if we dated other people . I'm sure he's just adjusting to Covington which is why I haven't heard from him….."

" Michael talked to him like three times last week " pointed out Lola as if her friend wasn't already aware of this fact since they all hung out together .

" I know ," Zoey refused to let this bother her ," I thought we were talking about Quinn ."

" You keep shooting down my ideas ," pouted Lola ," and I was just stating the obvious cuz its kinda weird that you haven't heard from your best friend since the first date that wasn't a actual date kept having technical difficulties ….."

" I wish you would get a boyfriend ," groaned Zoey, feeling a twinge of guilt at the reminder of her first date via webcam with Chase not so long ago," come on, we can figure out what to do to get Quinn out of her funk while we watch the guys ."

" I bet Logan would beat Mark up for us if we asked him too " decided Lola , suddenly .

" Why Logan ?"

" He hates Del Figgalo way more than we do " declared a knowing Lola as they grabbed a couple more Blix and headed out to the basketball court to join the guys .

Logan was on edge as he waited for Quinn to arrive , another feeling that was foreign to him . He had never waited on a girl in all of his 17 years yet here he was ….pacing across the patio and hoping the foliage and the shrubbery that hid the patio kept him away from any students who just happened to be passing by this way .

He was risking a lot just waiting for Quinn as it was .

He was a risk taker but usually only on things that he knew would work in his favor .

There were no guarantees that Quinn would feel the same way for him as he did for her , their history wasn't exactly the greatest to begin with but things had changed between them . He wasn't sure when he started noticing her as more than just Quinn the science nerd but he couldn't deny that she was all he could think about .

" Logan , I got the fruit bouquet ," Quinn stepped out onto the patio, " it was ..sweet of you to send it . A little weird but …thank you ."

" I've never bought anything ..gifts for girls before ," explained Logan, brown eyes meeting brown ," but apples and bananas are your favorites . Right ?"

She had to smile at how anxious he seemed and found it endearing .

" I didn't know you knew that about me ….I mean, how ? I know you weren't around or even cared about my failed ban apple experiment , Logan " says Quinn, quietly .

" Because I know you, Pensky ," Logan took a step towards her ," Quinn, I know this whole thing with you and me ..its insane but I know you felt something when we kissed ….and I want to see about it. About us …"

Quinn bit the edge of her lip and sighed ." Yes, I did feel something , Logan ! You must know the idea of us together is wrong ? It's ….it's clichéd and wrong and …..why are you looking at me like that ?"

She colored from the intensity of his gaze. " Logan "

" You have the prettiest eyes , Quinn " admitted Logan, knowing he could easily get lost in them .

Inspite everything, Quinn melted at his words and believed them . Believed him.

" How many girls have you said that too ?" asked Quinn, not meaning too .

He looked hurt momentarily but nodded . His reputation would make her question him .

" Only you ," Logan reached out, taking her hand into his ," I might be a jerk and a lot more things but I 'm not lying to you . I've always thought your eyes were pretty ."

Her heart pinged and sighed against her chest as Quinn stared down at their hands .

It felt nice .

" You have the cutest nose " Quinn found herself admitting to him .

His smile was soft ." I know " Logan leaned forward , touching his lips to hers, lightly ," so, I was thinking we could , I don't know, date …."

" Logan, the embarrassment alone would add to my humiliation ," Quinn moved away from him , thinking ," not to mention the abuse we would be subjected to . I've barely been a single woman for a day now and you know how the rumor mill runs rampant around PCA …."

" I'm embarrassed by you too but I still want to be with you " exclaimed Logan, irritation bubbling up from his gut ," will you at least consider it , Quinn ?"

" Your embarrassed by me ?" asked Quinn, thrilled at his admission .

" I would die from it if it got out but I cant seem to control myself around you since we kissed so what do you say , Quinn ? " demanded Logan, impatiently .

Quinn found herself entranced by the vulnerability and this new side of Logan was quite attractive . He had always been charming but when had he become charming and sweet ?

Sweet wasn't a word one used to associate with Logan Reese -obnoxious creep , yes .

" Maybe if we met in secret ,' suggested an intrigued Quinn," to test the waters of whatever this is we're both feeling . It could be some strange impulsive behavior brought on by your dislike of Mark and our years of animosity between us , Logan ."

" Sure or we could just like each other " He suggested , smiling goofily at her .

" I've never seen you like this ," Quinn stepped closer , spurned by her own heart and the gentle way he held her hand ," not even when you dated Dana ."

Logan had dated Dana Cruz briefly before she had left PCA and before he had returned to his playboy ways dating three girls a week and moving on .

" She wasn't you," said Logan, nuzzling her brown curls ," come on, Quinn, we can date in secret if that's what you want . No one would ever believe you would date me anyway ….."

" I suppose it couldn't hurt ," Quinn found herself moving into his arms ," if we're not compatible then we'll know soon enough . "

" Sure " Logan's heart felt as if it would leap out from his chest from her nearness but he just went with his feelings ," so when I kissed you ?"

" Your too charming for your own good , Logan " Quinn rubbed her nose against his ," and you make me feel pretty …."

" You are pretty , Quinn " declared Logan, kissing her as if there were no tomorrow .

Quinn had no idea what was happening but all she could do was feel and live .

" Hey lil Lisa ," Michael wrapped his arms around the waist of his girlfriend ," I almost thought you weren't going to make it ….gonna throw me over for yoga ."

Lisa laughed and pushed her straight dark hair off her shoulders . " I thought about it but then I changed my mind ," teased the vivacious young woman ," I knew you'd need me for moral support when James trounced you ."

" James isn't going to beat me, woman " Michael feigned offended ," If Logan gets his sorry butt out here , we're going to beat Garrett's hide here ."

Lisa turned in his arms and kissed him. " So competitive , Michael ," told Lisa with a chuckle ," sooo, do you know what is coming up for us ?"

He tilted his head, hand on chin, contemplative . " I wonder ….could it be our six month anniversary ?"

" You guessed right ," Lisa wrapped her arms around his waist ," six months is big . I'm really excited to see what you have planned for me, Michael ."

He kissed the side of her neck causing her to laugh at his playfulness..

They had a fun relationship and Michael was always playful and loving with her .

" I was thinking we could go somewhere private ," brought up Michael, in low undertones in case his roommate was listening in on their private conversation ," maybe someplace romantic and take us to the next level "

" What ?" demanded Lisa , turning around, aghast at what he was suggesting .

" You think telling me you want to have sex on our anniversary is romantic ?" Lisa raised her voice , hands on hips, pissed off ," did Logan put you up to this whole idea ?"

" Lisa , keep your voice down ," Michael turned red," People don't need to know about our love life . Logan didn't tell me anything ! I thought we were going to talk about it ! You weren't mad at me the last time I brought it up .."

" You weren't being an idiot about our relationship then ," Lisa folded her arms across her chest ," the basketball court isn't romantic ! If you want to discuss this topic with me , you can find another way, Michael ! "

" What did I say that made it gross ? I don't understand ! " Michael was clueless .

" Figure that one out on your own ! I'm not in the mood for to be your cheerleader now ! " informed Lisa , walking away from him and meeting Zoey and Lola en route .

" Lisa , come on ! Your just gonna walk away from me ?"

" Yes ! " called Lisa , over her shoulder ," hey Zo, hey Lola ."

" Are you alright ?" inquired Zoey, who had caught the end of the argument .

" Michael is a skunk bag ! See you in yoga, Lola " answered Lisa , aggravated .

" Michael, what did you do to her ?" asked a curious Lola ," she is really mad at you."

" Stay out of it , Lola," said Michael ,shaking his head in dismay ," I don't know exactly but I will figure it out before lil Lisa breaks up with me ."

" I do not understand why you call your girlfriend little when she is as tall as you are, Michael " chimed in James , who had been practicing his game by himself while the couple fought .

" I just do ! It's a thing ! You don't understand , James " told a distracted Michael, trying to figure out how his romantic question had been gross to her . He was confused .

" Stop picking on my boyfriend, Michael " said a good-natured Zoey, leaning in to kiss James ," hii cuteness . I missed you."

James slipped an arm around her . " Missed you too "

" You guys make me sick ," Lola sat down on a bench ," just shoot some hoops so we can go get some sushi before I die of starvation ."

" Stop being so dramatic " ordered Zoey, taking the ball from James and making a basket .

" Are you girls going to stand around like losers or are we going to play some ball ?' called out Logan as he and Quinn came around from separate areas and joined them.

" You're such a moron , Logan " remarked Quinn, sarcastically but she couldn't resist the small smile that curved around her lips that came from spending 20 minutes wrapped in his arms and the most wonderful, delirious make out session she had ever experienced .

" Science nerd " said Logan, glibly .

" Will you two knock it off ! " said Zoey ," come on, Quinn, join us ."

" I was bored ," explained Quinn, taking a seat near Lola," and I thought about what you said about needing company so here I am ."

" Did you see Mark about the fruit he had the nerve to send you ?" demanded Lola , still on a rant .

" Mark didn't send you any…." Logan caught himself as Quinn glared at him .

Right , they were keeping their thing between them a secret .

" What fruit ?' inquired James , trying to follow the randomness of their conversation.

He had been in their little inner circle for maybe a month and was still often baffled by the going ons . Sometimes it was just strange tangents and silliness he never understood .

" It's not important ," Quinn was quick to speak up," I don't want to discuss my ex boyfriend so you guys should start playing so we can cheer you on ! "

" She's right ! " Logan grabbed the ball," let's go ! "

There on the basketball court while the girls cheered the guys on during a rather spirited game , no one would have ever imagined the hidden secrets and questions that plagued the six friends minds .


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer : Nope , I don't own Zoey 101 either , just playing around in PCA.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon at Pacific Coast Academy , the warm weather and the gentle breeze wafting off of the ocean and up the coast , putting most of the students in good moods as they walked to and from their classes , or stopping at one of the familiar coffee carts for some javacinio or just hanging out chatting with their friends on the oversized campus.

Across the courtyard, students were stretching and laying out their brightly colored yoga mats , among them was Lisa Perkins, who was dressed in black yoga pants and a purple PCA tee shirt while Lola wore a stylish bright cobalt blue set .

Lola pulled her hair into a ponytail and flashed a curious smile at her friend .

" So, are you going to tell me why your boyfriend is being such a pig to you ?'

Lisa sighed as she bent down to touch her toes and debated on how much to tell Lola -without it winding up as gossip around the campus .

They were friends but Lola thrived on the happenings around the school and she liked to talk which was probably one of the reasons she was such good friends with Michael .

Both of them had big mouths .

" Are you going to tell Michael if I tell you ?" asked Lisa , cautiously .

Lola made a face ." I wont tell Michael ! Come on, Lisa, you have to give me something !

You and Michael hardly ever fight ! "

Lisa sat down on her mat, folding her legs as Lola did the same .

" You know how Michael and mine …our sixth month anniversary is coming up ," brought up Lisa , matter of fact ," I've been teasing him about him surprising me for it since he cant keep secrets to save a life . Anyway, he has suddenly decided that us having sex is the ideal way for us to celebrate ….."

" Gross " Lola made a face ," that doesn't sound like Michael though ."

" I know he's being such a jerk by thinking that taking us to the next level is romantic ," said a disgusted Lisa ," which it might have been if he hadn't brought it up on the basketball court around James and ..who knows who heard him."

" Logan must be rubbing off on him " decided Lola, naturally .

" Maybe," said Lisa, stretching forward with an aggravated sigh ," I'm just disappointed , I guess. Michael is crazy and I love him but he isn't usually pushy about the physical stuff and I sort of expected it to just happen with us ."

" It still could so does this mean your not going to break up with him now ?" asked Lola, her eyes wide as she scanned the crowd for cute guys before focusing her attention back on her friend . She could multi task with the best of them.

" I wasn't going to break up with him , I was just angry at him " answered Lisa ," I'll let him stew for a day or two until he apologizes then we'll be fine again ."

" Stewing is always fun " agreed Lola , with a nod .

" He'll freak himself out without me " predicted Lisa , then not wanting to dwell on it all day she changed the subject ," so, how is Quinn doing ? It was such a rotten thing for Mark to do ….and makes you question Brooke Margolian's taste in guys ."

She made a face then caught herself . " Not that Quinn has bad taste but I just never understood what she saw in Mark Del Figgalo in the first place ."

" It's okay, I never got it either ," told a non-plussed Lola of her best friend ," Zoey thinks it was love at first sight but I don't see how that could be since Quinn is way more exciting than Mark. Well, Quinn excitement , anyhow …..and she is really a hot mess over the whole being broken up with thing ."

" That's too bad " mused Lisa , thoughtfully ," but Quinn is a strong , independent woman and she doesn't need Mark …"

" You want to tell her that ? Cause she is so not listening to me and Zoey "

Lisa smiled ," Sure "

**************************************PCA********* *********************

Quinn had compiled data , made numerous lists and a graph of the facts, analyzing the lunacy of a romantic involvement of any kind with Logan Reese .

It just didn't add up and she was good with numbers and figures too . Maybe it would fizzle after a few days but right now as she strode purposely across the quad to meet him beneath the cove of trees across from the boys dormitory , Quinn felt giddy .

The text from Logan had been unexpected and she couldn't believe she was actually excited to be rushing to meet with him.

" Quinn , wait up "

Quinn recognized the monotone voice of her ex-boyfriend instantly and dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she debated on handling this like a mature , civil young lady or mangling his face with one of the guys hockey sticks .

She knew Logan would probably offer up his out of spite .

She plastered a tight smile on her face, planted a hand on her hip, and turned around to face Mark . Brooke, his new little arm candy bimbo, was hanging onto his arm.

" What is it , Mark ? Because I really don't have anything left to say to you "

There was actually a lot of things she could say, would have loved to call him on, but it would fall on deaf ears and she just didn't want to go there again with him.

" Uh, well….." Mark was uncomfortable but Quinn was always the most understanding of girls so he felt this talk was necessary ," I know I kind of upset you the other night ….about everything but I thought since it seems like your cool with things now ….I want us to be friends still, Quinn."

Anger mingled and boiled among the hurt as the pretty scientist narrowed her eyes at him.

" Who says that I'm fine, Mark ? "

" Well, you have your glasses back on and your dressing like yourself so I thought it meant you were cool " deduced Mark, smiling at his new girlfriend .

" We could all be friends " chirped Brooke , happily .

Quinn 's fingers went to her zap watch as she fought some inner battles within herself not to zap the both of them right then and there .

Was this really happening to her ?

" You know what, I'm good . I have plenty of friends ….but thanks for thinking about me , Mark. Brooke ." snapped Quinn as she turned and hating herself for her weakness , she ran , past a hand holding James and Zoey and straight into the trees where Logan was waiting for her .

She didn't know why she was crying but God, was there no end to Mark's thoughtlessness ?

Had he always been this uncaring towards her ?

" Quinn, " Logan caught her in his arms ," what's the matter ? Why are you crying ?"

She bit the inside of her lip then looked at him, surprised to see genuine concern written all over his handsome face and allowed herself a moment to relax in his arms .

" Mark ambushed me ," explained Quinn, under her breath," he and Brooke want to be my friends . Am I that much of a fool ? How much humiliation must I endure ?"

She moved into his embrace, allowing herself time to drop her head against his shoulder and bask in these new feelings he brought out in her as he tightened his strong arms .

" Don't answer that , it was a rhetorical question "

Logan frowned and tangled a hand in the softness of her brown curls , trying to soothe her .

" I don't care how much of a wreck it was , why are you letting that loser hurt you like that ? You should be glad to be rid of Del Figgalo ," stated Logan, touching her face, tenderly with his hand ," I'm way better than him and a hundred times the man he isn't ."

" Logan, your really serious about us " realized Quinn as if she still couldn't believe it.

She was the serious one , not Logan .

Had there been some anomaly , some freakish blue moon that she hadn't been aware of ?

" Have you not been listening to me, Quinn ? Yes, I want us to date ." informed Logan, brushing his lips over hers in a soft, deep kiss that had her smiling against his lips .

" You realize that I'm not over Mark yet ? " murmured Quinn, melting anyway at the confident expression on his face ," and dating is a stepping stone in an actual relationship to which you know absolutely nothing about …."

He kissed the side of her chin. " I'll make you forget about him "

" Logan….I'm being serious " managed Quinn, forgetting why she was upset at Mark.

He flashed her a sexy grin and wrapped his arms around her waist .

" I'm serious about us making out, Quinn "

Quinn giggled ," I must be losing my mind "

" Your not and neither am I " Taking her hand, Logan led her behind a tree and then lowering his mouth to hers, kissed her until they were both breathless .

***********************************PCA************ *********************

Meanwhile James and Zoey were holding hands as they walked across the quad towards their English classroom, bypassing the nerds table where Wayne aka Fire wire was leading a heavy debate over the mythology of the superheroes, and waving at Michael who passed them .

" You were so sweet to help us out with Quinn " brought up Zoey, swinging his hand ," Lola and I were afraid she was going to blow up Mark and Brooke …"

" Glad I could help ," smiled the blonde haired young man, amiably ," besides Quinn has always been nice to me right from the start ."

" That's Quinn," smiled Zoey, as he tightened his hold on her hand ," we expected a meltdown kind of but it bothers me that she hasn't even cried about it yet ."

" This is not good ?" inquired a confused James who didn't understand the workings of girls minds anymore than anyone else did .

" Noooo, it's not ," answered Zoey, concerned for her friend ," Quinn's emotional naturally . It's just …I'm worried about her ."

" Maybe you should talk to Chase and get his opinion on the situation " suggested James , watching her face for a reaction.

She paled and dropped his hand as if it was on fire , gaping incredulously at him .

" Chase ," Zoey repeated his name softly ," why would you suggest that to me ?"

James stuffed his hands in the pockets of his khakis and nodded , calmly .

" Michael and Logan were talking about him last night ," brought up James ," and I was just thinking how …I know you and he were good friends, Zoey. You haven't really mentioned talking to him or anything ….."

She had explained to James shortly after they had began dating about her best friend being in England . Michael and Logan had chosen to tell him the gory details of the Chase and Zoey story which she had been slightly angry at them for but she had been very clear that she and Chase were just good friends .

She was with James now and she was crazy about him.

" I've been really busy lately ," said Zoey , though it felt flimsy to her own ears ," and I know that Covington is nothing like PCA . It doesn't bother you about Chase ?"

She didn't know why she was even asking him this - there wasn't anything for him to worry about . It just made her feel uncomfortable .

" Why would I be bothered ? Zo, you said the whole date thing between you guys didn't pan out " replied James," and I trust you so yea, it's not a problem ."

" It's just weird " conceded Zoey, twisting the pink painted room key around her neck, nervously ," and it would be nice to talk to Chase . "

She stopped to link her arms around his neck and dropped a short kiss on his lips .

" You are the perfect boyfriend "

" Perfect , hmm," James smiled down at her ," I like the sound of that ."

" I'm a lucky girl " muttered Zoey, kissing him again," it's a good thing I caught you before Lola got a hold of you, James ."

A serious expression crossed his face. " Lola isn't my type "

Zoey laughed ," So now I know that you wont run off with my roommate , I'm relieved ."

" There's always Quinn " deadpanned James , making her laugh," come on, let's get to class before we're late ."

Together they headed into the English building avoiding the over -friendly Stacey Dilson who called out a cheerful greeting to the couple .

**************8***************PCA***************** *********************

By the time lunch rolled around, Michael and Logan were the first at their regular table outside , munching on meatless tacos and burgers and arguing over the Lisa problem .

The girls hadn't arrived yet and Michael was desperate for input even if that meant throwing the situation out there to his obnoxious roommate .

" I thought I was being romantic ," exclaimed a dramatic Michael ," girls like romance . Right ? She didn't give me time to finish telling her I was going to woo her with a nice meal and some flowers and maybe some romantic flute music ….and now she wont even answer my text messages ."

Logan smirked at him. " Who says woo ? That isn't cool, dude ."

" Why am I even talking to you about this ," remarked Michael, tossing a handful of chips at his friend ," you've never even had a relationship with a girl . You wouldn't know how to give a girl romance if it hit you on your rich head …."

He bowed his head , groaning and freaking out . " I've done it now ," moaned Michael ," I'm gonna lose the love of my life ."

Logan ignored his friends panic and took offense to the insult . " I resent that, man ," protested Logan, thinking of Quinn ," I could do the romance thing ."

" Buying girls large popcorns at the movies before the making out isn't romantic "

" I know what romance is , dude ! " argued Logan, who had been racking his brain trying to figure out what kind of romance Quinn would be into since she wasn't into all the typical girl things or his throwing his money around for her .

" I don't care ," Michael took a drink of his Blix ," this isn't about you, Reese ! "

" Stop your whining ! " Logan made a face at him then brightened when he noticed Quinn and Lola making their way to join them for lunch .

Quinn slid in the bench across from him, caught his eye, and her lips curled in a smile .

" Hi "

" Pensky " muttered Logan, smiling into her eyes and hoping their friends weren't paying any attention to them ," sorry about Del Figgalo ..dum..breaking up with you."

" I don't want to talk about it with you ," lashed out Quinn," I loathe you, Logan ."

" I ..wait ..that means hate . Right ? " countered Logan, taken a back .

Quinn had insisted that if they continued their usual bickering and fighting then none of their friends would suspect a thing about them , thus saving them from abuse and ridicule .

She crinkled her nose ." Yes, it does, you moron ."

" Stuff it, Logan, " contributed Lola , with her usual disdain for the rich jock ," Quinn is still fragile and doesn't need your piggish behavior while she gets over Mark ."

" Lola, I'm not fragile " insisted Quinn, knowing her friend meant well.

" Well, you haven't blown anyone or anything up since the break up so you are fragile " decided Lola in her own skewed logic she believed in," and Michael, stop whining ! You could be a man and send Lisa some apology flowers instead of being a big baby ….."

" Apology flowers ? Lola, you are a genius " cheered Michael as if all of his problems were solved ," do they have purple flowers ? Lisa loves purple ..so purple flowers ."

" Purple is a magical color ," explained Quinn, eagerly ," its actually both hot and cold at the same time . It's traditionally attached to royalty and social status …."

" It's also expensive but purple orchids are pretty " contributed Lola, helpfully.

" You screwed up royally though ," added Logan, wanting to show them that he knew stuff too. He wasn't stupid ," red roses say that you love the girl ."

" Red is the traditional rose of love and passion " this came from Quinn.

" I do love my Lil Lisa ," replied Michael, firmly ," but purple is her color . I've heard her say it but I don't know if I can afford those royal roses .."

" One expresses deep admiration and respect when giving purple roses " says Quinn, matter of fact ," though I've always though daffodils were a cheerful flower ."

Logan met her eye ." You like roses too though "

Quinn was curious behind her glasses ." I love the romance behind the symbolism of the red rose and can appreciate it as much as any girl ."

" Lilies are still pretty or purple orchids " Lola poked her fork of fruit at the guys .

" Hey ," greeted Zoey as she and James joined the group ," why are we discussing flowers ? Did we miss something ?"

" You guys joined the flower club ?" asked James , earning him a glare from Logan .

" Gross ," said Lola , making a face ," I don't garden or get my hands dirty ."

" So what is the sudden interest in flowers ?" questioned Zoey, good naturally .

" Michael is going to send Lisa apology flowers to get out of the dog house for being such a skunk bag jerk face " explained Lola, helpfully .

" Out of the doghouse would be a good thing " told a smiling Zoey, understanding ," and I would hope that you would have already apologized to Lisa first, Michael ."

" I've sent her like three apologies so far , Zoey ," whined Michael, " she isn't answering me back at all ."

" You apologized via a text message ?" asked an dubious James , shaking his head .

" Yes ," answered Michael , as if they should know this already ," Lisa is furious at me ."

" That is lame ," said James , squeezing Zoey's hand ," I would never do that . In person is always the best , Michael ."

" Aw " Zoey leaned in to him," you're the best ."

Logan rolled his eyes upwards disgusted at Zoey and James displays of affection .

Chase would really be hating them about now and it sucked that he didn't want to get back in the game . Three years to be in love with Zoey meant something and he was just walking away because they were separated by distance .

Didn't seem right to him even .

" What do you think I should do, Zo ?' questioned Michael, wishing his best friend was here and not in England . However , Zoey was the next best thing for good advice .

" Just get her the roses and tell her that you were an ass " offered Logan, tired of the sappy topic and debating if it were too soon to give Quinn flowers .

He was thinking it might be .

" Go see Lisa in person ," stated Zoey," apologize and give her the flowers ."

" I think you should send them to her ," argued Lola ," its more romantic that way ."

" Tell her that you love her ," says Quinn, in a soft voice ," its nice to be reminded ."

Maybe that should have been her own first clue about the deteriorating mess of her relationship with Mark -she had been the only one expressing her love .

She had been so blinded by love and very foolish .

" Your all nuts " declared Logan, digging into his lunch with gusto .

" Apology and flowers ," said a determined Michael , " thanks , guys , but I got this all under control now . Lisa will love me again ."

Crisis saved now with a little help from friends, the gang dug into lunch and gossip .


	6. Chapter 6

Covington Prepatory Boarding School

England

Chase missed everything .

He missed his home, he missed PCA, he missed Michael and Logan 's craziness , and right now as he took his boring lunch tray to the long table he shared lunch with his snotty roommate Colin, he missed one Zoey Brooks so fiercely he was sure he was going to lose it . It wouldn't be the first time it had happened since he had arrived in England but most of his classmates here already considered him the crazy American so he really wasn't up for giving them more to gossip about .

He blamed the missage on Logan for reminding him that Zoey was still happy with her new boyfriend, James .

Chase was trying to be mature about the whole thing because they were far apart from one another and it wasn't as if they were actually dating but it burned him that she had moved on so fast from him after he had confessed that he was in love with her .

It wasn't that easy for him because he was still in love with Zoey .

Colin, who looked every inch like he belonged at Hogwarts, with his blonde hair, glasses, and stuffy attitude scowled at him as he plopped down across from him .

" Matthews , must you deem to eat your lunch with me ?"

" If you call sausage and a hard roll a lunch then I must ," Chase tossed the roll across the table ," what I wouldn't give for a meatless taco and a big cookie right about now ."

Colin rolled his eyes in disgust ." Meatless taco? That sounds disgusting ."

" Michael and Logan say that they are awesome ," said a sad Chase of his best friends ," I want to taste the awesomeness of the taco without the meat . I'm hoping maybe Logan can ship me over some and we can all try them ..that'd be cool."

" Speaking of your annoying friends , " brought up Colin with a yawn, " please enlighten me that none of them will be wanting to video chat with you again this evening or morning as it has been of late ?"

Chase shrugged and glanced at his phone , hoping for a text but doubting the likelihood of that happening since the last time Michael had sent him one , his friend had got in trouble for the international bill by his grandmother so video chatting it had been .

Much to his roommates dismay .

" I can't promise you that ," informed Chase , taking a drink of tea and wishing it was a Blix instead ," Logan still hasn't updated me on what's happening between him and Quinn. Man, I'd love to see him go freaking nuts in person ! "

" I swear , Chase , your friends have such excitement going on that I for one would almost book a flight back to this PCA you wax on about nearly 24 hours a day " declared Hannah Donovan , taking a seat across from him and nodding at Colin ," oh don't look so sour, Colin, you wont catch any girl with an expression like that ."

" There isn't any girl that I find interesting enough, Hannah " said Colin, stiffly .

Chase smiled at the young woman who had long red hair , bright green eyes, and a vibrancy about her that made them friends naturally . In ways his new friend reminded him of Zoey yet they were completely different .

" Are you still pining over your Zoey, Chase ? You have the look about you "

Chase stabbed the sausage with his fork, angrily ." I'm not pining , Hannah ! We said it was fine if we dated other people and so what if she is ..I'm sure James is a nice guy . Hell, he's even taking my spot rooming in my dorm with my best friends …..and hanging out with all of our friends as if I never even existed ! "

" So, there is no reason for me to be missing the girl who stole my freaking heart 3 ½ freaking years ago and hasn't taken the damn thing back ! "

Hannah patted his arm, sadly ." Does she know how you feel about all of this ?"

" I haven't spoken with Zoey for weeks ," informed a resentful Chase , the sting of betrayal still a fresh wound and more so than what he had let on to Logan ," she was kind enough to email about her and James after Michael and Logan told me what really happened . Guess she doesn't want to talk about the new boyfriend with me …."

" I wouldn't want to talk about it with you either , you bloody nit " retorted Colin

" Frankly , this Zoey doesn't sound all that great to me, Chase ," said Hannah , touching his hand , carefully ," I know you care about her but she didn't go out of her way to let you down gently after she found a new boyfriend or mourn the loss of your love ."

" You don't know Zo," defended Chase , glancing down at their hands ," I'm sure she had her reasons for not telling me right away . She isn't a mean person …I just wish I could get past it like she has but I can't ."

" You could try moving on like she obviously has, Chase ," offered Hannah, trying to express her interest in him ," there are any number of girls here who would love to go out with you if you were to ask ."

" I don't know if I'm really into the Ginny Weasley's or Hermione Granger's of Covington unless Zoey Brooks has a British twin I don't know about then I am just not ready to move on ," declared a pained Chase , with a moan ," you should go find me a big cookie, Hannah, and let me continue with my pining ."

" You are driving me up the wall with these Hogwarts references , you moron "

" Colin, dude , you really need to loosen up and stop being so flumpy " said Chase which made him think of his best friend ," I am having PCA missage bad ."

Colin made a face at him. " I wish I actually had a working wand because I would banish you from my life , Matthews ."

" Will you two stop ," groaned a frustrated Hannah ," Chase , I know you miss your friends but you could try to make the most out of Covington while you are here rather than acting like a blathering idiot all of the time ."

" I'm trying but the guys and I , we speak fluent blathering idiot " told Chase , mournful ," right now I'd even kill just to see another one of Quinn's inventions blow up ."

Hannah and Colin stared at him. " Blow up ?"

" Quinn's a little weird but she's brilliant " added Chase ," and I can't believe that Logan is falling in love with her ! This is my punishment for the whole not telling Zoey till its too late now I get the inside scoop of the two most unlikely people to fall in love actually happening and I can't even tell a soul ."

" You're telling us " reminded Hannah, amused by his cuteness .

" Because you don't even know how unbelievable Quinn with Logan is " went on Chase , rambling ," and I am dying to tell Michael ! Which I can't because Logan is trusting me with this secret ! Gah, and this is only making me miss Zoey more than I already was ! "

Hannah sighed , discouraged . It appeared that she had her work cut out for her if she intended to show Chase that her interest in him was as more than a friend and wondered how high his Zoey pedestal was for her to compete with his love .

*********************************PCA************** *********************

Zoey had kissed James briefly and made her way to her dorm, hoping that Quinn and Lola were still out, so that she could have the room to herself to make the call to Chase .

She was actually more nervous than she had anticipated being and it bothered her .

Chase was her closest best friend and there was no need for this silly apprehension that currently resided in the pit of her stomach .

She had just been busy with schoolwork and obviously Chase had been busy - it wasn't that their friendship meant anything less to them because of the distance .

That so wasn't true or maybe one part of her was afraid that Chase wouldn't be cool about her relationship with James .

" I am going to try out for Cleopatra ," announced Lola , bursting into her room and pulling a Blix out of their min-fridge ," I can totally be the Queen of Denial . Don't you think, Zoey ? Have you seen Quinn and why are you staring at a blank screen ?"

" She was the Queen of the Nile , Lola ," corrected Zoey , good -naturally ," not Denial though that would be you. I don't know where Quinn is ….maybe she's in the library ."

" I just hope she doesn't have her little exploding balls with her because Mark has been flaunting Brook all over PCA and if we're not where she is , Quinn could kill them "

" Maybe you should find Quinn then ," suggested Zoey, dialing up Chase's address ," or call one of the guys to find her and keep her busy ."

Lola brushed her hair and peered at the screen ." You're trying to get rid of me ! Oh my God, your calling Chase ! Does James know that you're calling Chase ?"

Zoey heaved a sigh at her friend . It would have been easier if it had been Quinn .

" It isn't a big deal , Lola ," stated Zoey, trying to make it sound nonchalant when she herself felt it was of more importance ," James actually suggested that I talk to Chase seeing as it has been a while since we talked . I just miss him ….."

Lola plopped down on the edge of her bed ." What if Chase asks you about you and James ?"

" Chase and I are mature , Lola ," stressed Zoey , feeling another pang of guilt at the thought ," you know that we agreed it was acceptable to date others . I'm sure Chase has al those girls at Covington falling for him with his bushy hair and cuteness …..and I wasn't going to tell you because I know how you get , Lola ."

" How do I get ? Then why are you acting all secretive about talking to Chase ? Michael and Logan talk to him all of the time and I was going to video chat him later on this week myself and catch him up on the latest juice around the campus "

" Because I'm afraid of how he's going to bring up James or even if he's going to mention him ," expressed a worried Zoey ," it's a little weird ."

" I could keep you company so it wouldn't be so weird " offered a helpful Lola .

" Thanks but I need to talk to Chase by myself ," said a firm Zoey ," and you need to find Quinn because I don't like how quiet she is being after this whole break up with Mark ."

" Quinn shouldn't be this desperate " said Lola of her best friend ," I guess I never realized how much she loved the loser …are you sure we can't fix her up yet ?"

" No matchmaking for Quinn now go " ordered Zoey, not unkindly and eager for he friend to vacate the room so she could talk to Chase in private .

" Tell Chase hi for me " said Lola as she breezed out of the dorm room , with her Blix and her favorite bag hooked on her shoulder ," oh, and you should totally ask him if he's found a new girlfriend , Zo "

Zoey slammed the door , shutting out the sound of the actresses voice and sitting down on her bed as the connection was made .

She sucked in a breath, waiting for his fuzzy head to appear on screen and wasn't disssapointed when Chase's kind face came into view .

" Logan, what's happening now ? " Chase paled when he noticed the pretty blonde appear instead ," and its Zoey , not Logan ."

His heart skipped a beat and he managed a smile ." Zoey "

She gave a little nervous wave ." That's me ," said Zoey, the awkwardness back in full force ," you were expecting Logan ?"

" Logan or Michael ," chuckled Chase , nodding at himself ," we talk a lot since I moved over here . Guess its not the same in our dorm since I moved here …so, it's been a while since you and I talked . "

Zoey nodded and felt the swirl of shame mingling with the guilt and tried to tamp it down .

There was no reason for any of those because she and Chase were never a couple .

" It's been crazy here but I bet the guys told you about things ," Zoey was determined to get things back to normal between them ," how is England ? Are you making friends ? Silly question cause you're Chase so I bet you have a bunch of new friends …."

" Well, I miss all of you guys but I have some friends over here " managed Chase , wishing it didn't feel as if he was having mouth surgery ," so, how's James ?"

Crap, why did I ask her that ?

I don't really need to know anymore about her new boyfriend unless they broke up which ..the guys would have told him about already so clearly he was losing his mind .

Zoey did her best not to wince . " He's good ," replied Zoey, through clenched teeth ," he's a really good guy, Chase . I think that you would like him …"

" Yeah , the guys have told me about him ," Chase tried to be happy for her though his heart was continuing breaking the rest of the way ," so I guess he is treating you good ? He would be or you wouldn't be with the guy …so, good ."

Zoey felt like a horrible person ." I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about him first ."

Chase shrugged as if it meant nothing ." Guess its just karma for what I did to you, Zoey ," answered Chase , under his breath ," you felt like you couldn't tell me you got a new guy . I get that….but I'm cool, I'm totally happy that you're happy ."

" I was going to tell you, Chase , but things just happened so fast between me and James ," Zoey scrambled to try to explain to him, make him understand ," I was blind sided . You know I would never do anything to purposely hurt you ….."

" I'm not hurt ," Chase tried not to feel anything ," we didn't work out and you found a new guy . I'm fine and you know, there are some really cute girls here that I kinda have my eye on….."

Colin sat up and stared at him. " You sod ! That's not what you said earlier ! "

" Stuff it , Co-lin ! Zoey doesn't want to hear you ! " growled Chase , angrily .

A tiny bit of what might have been jealousy tried to work its way into her emotions but she refused to allow it to take hold .

" I bet you will have them all fighting for your fuzzy hair ! " teased Zoey, good-naturally .

" Don't start with the fuzzy head ," Chase tried to hide the sadness in his eyes ," and I'm not exactly Logan or anything so it's nothing like that with the ladies . How's Quinn doing ? Uh, Logan might have mentioned that Del Figgalo dumped her for another girl ."

" Logan mentioned Quinn to you ? That's strange " mused Zoey, pondering .

" Logan and Quinn are kind of friends , too " said Chase , covering his tracks ," I still can't believe he broke up with her for a skank ."

" Chase ! " admonished Zoey, shocked ," Brook isn't a skank …okay, maybe a bit of one ."

" How is Quinn handling it ? " asked Chase , curious for Zoey's insight on it .

" Not well at all ," admits Zoey," Lola and I are worried about her ..in fact, Lola is out now trying to find her before she tries zapping Mark again or blowing up Brook . "

" Poor Quinn " mused Chase with a sigh ," maybe she'll find someone better for her ."

" We're not getting involved again ," dismissed Zoey, simply ," Lola already has fifty not so great ideas about how we should help Quinn and we're doing none of them ."

She paused , wishing she could reach out and hug him. " I miss you "

His heart plummeted and fell at his feet . " I miss you too , Zoey ."

Chase laughed , tension in every move he made as he glanced around the room then back to the computer screen , feeling worse than he had at lunch hours ago .

" Listen, Zoey, it was great talking to you but I need to get off of here before Colin here tries to get me detention again ," lied Chase ,tiredly ," give Lola and Quinn a hug for me and Michael too . Hell, even Logan ….see you ."

" Will do ," Biting her lip and feeling as if things had changed between them in such a short time . Zoey managed a warm smile directed at him ," talk to you later , Chase ."

He shut down the chat , sighed heavily , and bent his head , wishing for a redo on life .

" You lied to her " spoke up Colin, his tone not so snotty but curious .

" She's not in love with me anymore , " muttered Chase , under his breath ," maybe she never really was . It's really , really painful, Colin ."

" I wont waste my time getting you in trouble this time ," said Colin in his own way ," watching you love this Zoey girl pains me even ."

" Thanks for that , man " Chase flopped down in his bed ," I deserve this hell ."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer : Zoey 101 isn't mine, I'm just playing around at PCA.

" Man, oh man, your kidding me ," Michael crossed the room as he talked to the PCA florist on the phone while Logan admired himself in the mirror and James played on his laptop ," thirty -six bucks for a bunch of purple flowers ?"

James grinned and lifted his head to catch his friends gaze ." Just order them ."

" No, I don't want you to deliver them ," replied Michael, " I'll come down to get them and deliver them to my girlfriend myself . Six dollar delivery fee is bad chizz …yes, I want the flowers ."

Logan chuckled, amused . " Did you get Lisa the roses too ?"

" Do I look like I can afford those royal roses , Logan ? I might be able to afford one if I didn't want to eat this month " grumbled Michael, throwing himself down on the couch and slumping ," no, I didn't get the roses ."

Logan grew serious . " Lisa actually loves your crazy self, dude , so you should probably spend the money and show her how you feel . I mean, you heard all the crap the girls and Quinn were saying …that stuff is important to them ."

" Since when do you listen to what the girls have to say ?' asked Michael, who was about to crack from missing his lil Lisa and was not quite to begging her to forgive him for his jackass behavior .

" I listen ..you know, sometimes , and Quinn knows stuff because she's brilliant " added Logan, knowing he sounded lame but hoping his friend would be too worked up in his own girl problems to question it .

" True ," agreed Michael , " and I don't think Del Figgalo ever bought her flowers or anything or that's what I heard from the girls . I'm doing the right thing buying apology flowers for Lisa ….James , would you buy Zoey apology flowers if you screwed up?"

James closed the laptop and nodded , amiably ." I would buy her the roses ."

" I can afford like one rose " said an exasperated Michael , as Logan tossed him a Blix and a fifty dollar bill," Reese, why are you giving me money ? You got a hot date lined up ? Trying to kick me out of our room again …."

" Sure ," lied Logan, wondering if he could get Quinn alone in the room but he'd have to still get rid of James first ," and ….you should use it to buy your woman the damn purple roses with the other flowers . Might as well apologize big ….and they are the love flower . I think you need all the help you can get right now unless you want dumped ."

Michael stared at him as if he had grown two heads . " Did you get dumped ? You're acting out of your mind, Logan , but it is actually a good idea ."

" I'm not stupid " cracked Logan, defensively .

" I'll leave if you give me fifty bucks " offered James , trying . He hadn't figured out much about his new roommates besides the obvious facts that Michael was good natured and easy going while Logan was basically a conceited jerk who was a player .

He still didn't quite understand how their friendship worked though he had heard stories from Zoey as well as general information thru the PCA grapevine .

Logan started to protest but thought it would be nice if he and Quinn could talk privately without the fear of returning roommates all evening .

He opened his wallet , withdrew another bill, and handed it to his other roommate .

" Here , go take Zoey out or whatever ," said Logan with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders ," just stay out late and knock before you just come in …."

" Who are you dating this week ?" asked a knowing James , pocketing the money .

" I bet its Alyssa Moreland ," Michael rubbed his hands together ," she's been hanging on you for weeks about going out . Am I right or am I right ?"

Logan grinned coolly and sent a text to Quinn, hoping she could get away .

"Maybe or you know, someone new " managed Logan, picking up the game controllers for their video system ," and don't you have apology flowers to pick up ?"

Michael slapped his friend on his back. " I don't know why your being generous , man, but now that I have the cash, I am going to add those roses to the bouquet ."

" Good call," decided James, thinking that he hadn't gotten Zoey anything romantic since they had started dating ," hold up, Michael, and I will go with you ."

" I'm going to the flower shop then to see Lisa ," informed Michael ," you can't go with me when I go beg for forgiveness ."

" You're pathetic , just go ! " Logan urged as his text came in from Quinn ," stay out all night . I wouldn't tell Lisa I gave you money to get her the roses cause she'd probably be pissed at you then me and I don't like having chicks pissed at me ."

" That's rich, dude ," laughed Michael, throwing back his head to cackle at how ridiculous that was ," you piss off most of the female population of PCA without trying to, Logan , but you're a good friend . Don't worry, I wont tell Lisa ."

He grabbed a bottle of cologne off of the dresser , not noticing whose bottle he grabbed and sprayed himself with the masculine scent then made a face when its overpowering smell hit him the wrong way .

" Cheese and biscuits , why do I smell grass ? Why would you want to smell like the grass ? " Michael made a face ," this isn't the usual stuff you wear , dude ."

" It's not mine, you idiot ! It's James ," stated Logan , matter of fact ," I wear the good stuff from Europe , not cheap , grass smelling cologne. Girls don't dig guys who smell like grass "

" I wonder if Quinn has some kind of neutralizer ," said Michael ," I smell like the dang grass and that isn't cool . Even though Lisa is an outdoor girl she wont want her boyfriend to be smelling like the earth …"

Logan jumped from the couch and tried to push his roommates out of the door .

" You shouldn't bug Quinn ," said Logan, stumbling over his words ," because you know , the nerd is probably making another Quinnvention or something and you don't want to wait to long to grovel or Lisa could still dump you ."

" Good point " agreed Michael, " I'm outta here . "

" Stop being ridiculous ," replied a calm James , offended by the cologne insult ," that cologne doesn't smell like grass . It's more of a natural, earthy smell and it was a present from Zoey, Michael ."

" Well, Zoey is great but her taste in men's cologne stinks " argued Michael as James followed him out of the room as Logan closed the door behind them, relieved .

Quinn was coming over soon .

He needed to find some romantic music to set the mood for romance .

Now who did Quinn listen to ? The girl liked to dance so he had to know this stuff .

**************************PCA********************* ********************

" Lisa ," Michael clutched the oversized bouquet of purple lilies, orchids , and roses out to her , pleading ," I am really sorry . I was a complete jerk to you ! I was worse than a jerk but will you please forgive me ? I wont do it again ….come on, baby, please ."

A slow grin curved around Lisa's smile as she took the flowers from him.

" This is a beautiful bouquet of flowers, Michael ," Lisa took them from him and ushered him into her room," and you are forgiven ."

" Thank you, thank you, thank you " Michael leaned in to kiss her ," we can do whatever you want for our anniversary , Lisa ."

" That is more like it " Lisa pulled a vase out of her dresser and arranged the flowers," and the flowers I love ..this is unexpected . I didn't even know you knew that orchids were my favorite , Michael ."

He hugged her around the waist ." Purple orchids cause you love purple and I know my Lil Lisa "

Lisa leaned in to kiss him." You really do "

She led him over to the couch and settled beside him, comfortably ." I do think we need to talk about taking us to the next level but I never expected you to bring it up in public ," replied a concerned Lisa ," that is our business , Michael. Not all of PCA and I barely even know James and I don't want him thinking I'm some gank you're dating ."

" No one thinks you're a gank, Lisa " stated Michael, matter of fact ," James doesn't ."

" We could go to Sushi Rox for our anniversary " brought up Michael , uncomfortable ," and maybe some dancing since you love to dance . How does that sound ?"

" Like what we do every other Saturday ," answered Lisa with a sigh," I like surprises every once in a while, Michael , and the flowers are a good start . "

" Surprises ?" questioned Michael, who considered himself something of a romantic .Maybe he needed to talk to Chase for some new ideas because he was drawing a blank just thinking about this ," I never knew you were into those , honey ."

Lisa smiled at him, lovingly ." I enjoy our dates and spending time together , Michael, but we don't always have to do the same thing . I don't want our relationship to get stale either …..new things are healthy ."

" Is this one of those girl quizzes Lola and Quinn and Zoey are always reading ? I didn't think you were into those silly things " said Michael, back-pedaling .

Lisa laughed at the panicked expression on his handsome face and touched his cheek, lovingly .

" Michael, most girls enjoy surprises and I don't think that I am asking for much "

" No, no, you aren't ," replied Michael, holding her close ," I just never knew you felt that way but its all good . I can keep us from getting stale and boring , no problem ."

Lisa smiled and pressed a kiss against his lips. " As for us having sex, it's not that I don't want us to be together that way because you know that I do so maybe you can find a more romantic, private place for us to be together when it's right ."

Michael swallowed the lump that lodged in his windpipe and nodded , vigorously .

" Private and surprises , I got that " breathed Michael as she lowered her lips to his and they made up for lost time of making out and being together .

Holy Chizz, how was he going to pull this off for Lisa ?

It was kind of embarrassing to be asking Zoey and the girls for advice about this but what other choice did he have ?

He loved Lisa and this was important to her so Michael would do what he must for her .

*************************PCA********************** *******************

Room 101

" What should I do with this ?" asked Quinn, holding up the hand painted picture of Mark with apprehension ," Mark was so happy when he had this made for me ….I'll just give it back to him." She let out a worn out sigh," I'm sure his new girlfriend will love it .'

" You should burn it or I will burn it for you," Lola stuck out her tongue ," I've always hated that thing . Gave me nightmares when you had it hanging it for an hour …"

" It is disturbing ," agreed Zoey, who was working on designing a new dress ," but if Quinn wants to give Mark all of his stuff back then I think it's a good idea ."

" Thanks, Zoey , " says Quinn as she received another anxious text from Logan who obviously wanted to see her very badly ," and you know upon reflection of my two -year relationship with Mark, I realized that besides the memories I don't actually have much of sentimental value that he has given me ….."

" He was never the romantic you thought he was, Quinn," brought up Zoey, not unkindly ," we just never mentioned it because you were so crazy about him."

" Mark had his moments , Zoey ," admitted Quinn, adding the picture to the box ," rare that they were but I suppose in my lovelorn state I couldn't see the reality ."

" If you say so, Quinn " said Zoey, her mind drifting to the awkward conversation between herself and Chase and wondered how much of it had been because they had expressed their love only a month ago . She loved Chase but it ..it wasn't the same as her feelings for James and this had never been a problem for them in the past .

" Oh hey ," Lola took a drink of her Blix ," how did your talk with Chase go ?"

Quinn dropped a straw into the box and turned her attention towards the blonde .

" When did you talk to Chase ? How did it go ? Zoey, you haven't spoken to him since before you got together with James ! "

Zoey put her paper aside and crossed her legs on her bed, debating on how much to confide to her best friends . The girls had been rooting for her and Chase since practically forever but they had both been equally supportive when she got together with James .

" I know , I know ," explained Zoey as they listened to her with rapt attention ," it went fine . I don't think Chase is getting along so well with his roommate but he is good . He's thinking about dating a girl …some English girl he likes so that is good for him."

Lola frowned and lifted a brow ." Why don't you sound convinced its good ?"

" I don't know ," dismissed Zoey , waving a hand as if to swat Lola away ," because its really good that Chase found someone . I want him to be happy like I am with James ."

Quinn was thoughtful." He must be over you then ..hmm ."

" What does hmm mean, Quinn?" demanded Zoey, bothered by it .

" Just that Chase has been in love with you since always and its just hard to imagine him moving on to another girl just like that but I suppose he will have to move on from you eventually ," mused Quinn, thinking of Logan," like I need to be from Mark ."

" Knock, knock ," James poked his head in the door ," delivery for Zoey Brooks "

Zoey's face lit up at the sight of her boyfriend ." James , what did you do ?"

James stepped inside the dorm room and pulled a large bouquet of red roses from behind his back and handed them to her .

" For you "

" Oh my God, James ," Zoey kissed him, quickly ," these are gorgeous ! You shouldn't have but I love them ! Thank you so much ! I can't believe this ! "

James kissed her cheek ." Roses for my best girl "

" Awww ," sighed a jealous Lola ," he's perfect ! I want roses now ! "

" Sorry , Lola, but you cant have my boyfriend " Zoey kissed James again ," this is such a wonderful surprise , James . I never expected this !"

" You are welcome so can I take you for some sushi ?" asked James , trying to be impulsive since he had heard that Chase was known for doing impulsive things for Zoey . He kind of sometimes felt as if he was silently competing with Chase Mathews even though the guy was all the way over in England .

" I would love some sushi " declared Zoey, climbing off of her bed ," I should put these flowers in some water then we can go …."

Lola took the flowers from her ." I can take care of these , Zoey. You should go and oh, eat some spicy tuna rolls for me …"

Zoey sent her a warning look. " You can't come on my date , Lola ."

Lola pouted ," Your no fun ! " She turned to Quinn," hey, where are you going?"

" Uh, I need to go pick up the purified uranium that I ordered from Bakaslavia ..so, I'll see you guys later " With a wave at her friends , Quinn headed out of the room .

" See, " stated Lola, hands on her hips ," I told you that Quinn is still messed up from Mark . How many walks has she been taking this week ? Its not normal even for Quinn …I don't like it ."

" Well, she is giving him back his stuff so that's good " declared Zoey as James took her hand into his ," and maybe whatever her new Quinnvention she is making will help her through the shock of it all finally ."

" Maybe but I still don't like it ," said Lola , crossing her arms over her chest ," are you sure that you wont bring me back food ?"

" Bye Lola " James led his girlfriend out of the room and hoped to discourage Lola .

" She needs a new boyfriend ," decided Zoey with a chuckle ," she hasn't met a guy yet that can keep up with her criteria . I thought Lafe might have a chance but she got bored with him after a week and a half ….."

" Lola is cute , I'm sure she will be asked out soon " said James , simply .

" It's nice how you listen to me about my friends ," explained Zoey, leaning into him ," I want them to be your friends too , James . "

" I want that too especially since you are all friends with Logan and Michael ," mused James ," interesting how things work out like that ."

" Karma " said Zoey , as a image of Chase's silly grin popped in her head and she tried to vanish it ," you believe in karma . Don't you, James ?"

" Like I do in Bigfoot " agreed James , holding the door open for her again and getting the vibe that she was slightly distracted ," I'm glad you liked the roses ."

" Roses are my favorite " Zoey kissed the side of his mouth ," you are too sweet."

He wanted to ask if Chase had ever given her flowers but didn't want to come off as the insecure boyfriend so he kept silent . He had the girl and there wasn't any competition so it was absurd for him to be stressing over the fact .

Zoey was his girlfriend and he had nothing to be worried about , at all.

" I aim to please "

*****************************************PCA****** ******************

" Logan " whispered Quinn, ear against the door of his room as she glanced furtively around the hallway , afraid of being caught ," I'm here ."

" About time " the door opened , Logan caught her arm, spinning her inside , shutting and effectively locking the door and pinning her within the circle of his arms in one fluid motion that had her impressed ," I missed you , Quinn."

He covered her lips with his in the most wondrous of kisses that had her legs threatening to buckle from under her as she held tight to his shoulders .

" Hi "

Logan adjusted her crooked glasses , took her hand into his, and led her over to the couch to sit down , wrapping his arms around her .

" Did you have trouble getting away from Zoey and Lola ?" asked a curious Logan as she found herself curling close to him .

" Uh, not really ," Quinn stared up at him, noting the gleam in his eyes and the almost soft way that he was staring at her and felt a flutter in her chest ," James surprised Zoey and well, I told Lola that I was picking up some purified uranium ….where 's Michael ?"

" Apologizing to Lisa so we have some privacy for a couple of hours ," Logan nuzzled her curls ," I thought we could , you know , make out more and talk."

Quinn touched the hard muscle of his arm and resisted sighing from his strength that really was quite attractive .

" Are you trying to sway me with all this charm, Logan ?"

" There aren't any swings in here but I guess we could sneak off to a park if you want us to ," said Logan, trying to be romantic ," I got rid of James and Michael for a few hours so we could be together in here but I'm cool with what you want to do."

Quinn appraised him, suspiciously ." What do you mean you got rid of them ?"

" I paid them to go be with their girlfriends and not come back here for a while "

Her lips twisted in a giddy smile ." You wanted to be alone with me ?"

" Duh, Quinn," replied Logan, frustrated ," haven't you figured that out yet ?"

" I just ..I thought the novelty of you and me together would disappear ," explained a logical Quinn, snuggling closer to him ," for the both of us though this is really romantic, sort of , for you. "

Logan frowned ." I thought you liked snuggling , Quinn ."

" I do but you don't , Logan ," brought up Quinn because it bothered her and she was still trying to puzzle them out ," it's not exactly your MO where girls are concerned ."

Her uncertainty peeked through as she struggled to make sense of everything that was happening to her and with them scaring her in ways she wasn't used to.

" You like brainless bimbos in skanky clothes , Logan ," continued Quinn, her tone low ," so why me ? Why us ? Why do you want to date me ? "

Logan sat up and smiled into her eyes as he considered what he was being asked .

" You know how I always flirt with Zoey and Lola and not you," replied Logan, carefully ," I knew they wouldn't make out with me . It was just a thing I did but you…well, I like you, Quinn , and you don't take any of my crap which can sometimes be annoying but its also hot sometimes . "

" Logan " pleaded Quinn," I'm being serious here ."

" So am I ," Logan touched her cheek, tenderly ," maybe I'm tired of all the bimbos and I don't know, I want something real with you. I think now is the right time for us , Quinn."

" You bring a compelling argument , Logan," sighed Quinn, feeling herself weakening from the sincerity of his words ," I'm surprised ."

" Good surprised ?" asked Logan, hoping she was because putting himself out there for her was freaking him out on the inside badly .

" Yes and even though you irritate me , this new side of you is sweet " Quinn lifted her lips for a kiss ," so, wow, we're really dating ."

" Yes " Logan kissed her neck," dating ….I like that and you."

" Lola and Zoey can never find out about us ," murmured Quinn, resting her head against his chest ," I could never live it down . They despise you daily for fun …"

" Michael would give me grief over you too " added Logan , bringing his arms back around her ," this snuggling is kind of nice . I like it ….you know , you're the first girl that I've ever snuggled with."

" I may have to check your brain waves to see what brought on this new side of you " mused Quinn, relaxing against him," but this is really nice . Mark got to where he didn't even want to put his arms around me, let alone snuggle with me .'

" I don't want to talk about your ex-boyfriend , Pensky and I'm better than him " said a jealous and defensive Logan, kissing her ear .

" I thought you didn't hate him ?" questioned a curious Quinn.

" I lied " answered Logan , " uh, so, I guess your still getting over Del Figgalo ?"

" I am though I think in truth , maybe I've just been so used to loving Mark that it hadn't occurred to me that I wasn't in love with him anymore " it was a painful realization but Quinn knew it was true and felt him relax his hold on her .

" Good , that's cool cause I've got the looks and the charm and I will treat you way better than that loser ever did " declared Logan ," and I know its weird and new with us, Quinn, but I am serious . You get that now . Don't you ?"

" I do ," Quinn wound her arms around his neck ," and as unorthodox as this whole you and me seems , I like being together with you like this ,Logan ."

Logan took his time, kissing her , lingering and long , and with all of these emotions that were new and maybe not so new for her and feeling terrified and wonderful all at once .

He didn't know what would happen being in a relationship with Quinn but he couldn't wait to find out as she giggled and kissed him back , Logan knew it was right .


	8. Chapter 8

, Lola was lonely .

It was awful and she didn't like how it made her feel at all. She wasn't the type of girl to let things like being dateless for a week or two affect her but here lately the pangs of loneliness were wheedling their way inside her mind .

It wasn't that there was a lack of cute guys at PCA ( they were all over the place ) she just hadn't found that one guy who met any or all of her criteria for actual boyfriend material or even a second date .

She was even the tiniest bit jealous of Zoey's relationship with James .

James was the perfect guy .

Zoey really had lucked out with him and they did make the perfect couple with their blonde good looks and niceness .

She wanted her own guy though and she didn't think it was too much to ask .

As if Lola wasn't bummed out enough as it was , she was seriously starting to worry about her best friend . Quinn was taking her break up with Mark really hard and she just wasn't acting like her crazy self yet and it wasn't right .

Zoey didn't think it was that serious yet but Lola had a feeling that there was a lot more going on inside of Quinn's head than what she was sharing with them .

She should have totally bounced back from Del Figgalo by now .

Lost in her own musings and not watching where she was walking, Lola collided with another student , hitting the solid wall of a very muscular chest she noticed immediately .

" Watch where you're going ! "

She felt hands grasp her forearms and glanced up and into the face of one of the most handsomest guys she had ever seen and lost her train of thought and speech .

In the sunlight she couldn't help but notice how his short hair was nearly a dark rich brown with the slightest tinges of red or the teasing gleam in his blue eyes that seemed to be staring awfully hard at her at the moment .

" You ran into me ," he reminded her , amiably ," but I don't think we need the law since I'm not bleeding and neither are you …."

" We're good here . Aren't we ?"

Was he flirting with her ?

He was cute and he defiantly sounded flirty to her and Lola Martinez knew flirting .

It was something of an art form with her .

" Oh my God ! " Realization hit Lola in the face like a ton of bricks ," it's you ! "

He sighed , heavily , and took a step backwards to give her space if that was what she needed .He had hoped to had made it past lunch before he was recognized but it didn't look like things were going to go his way .

" I am me ," He tried to make light of the situation ," and I don't think we've met . I would have remembered someone as cute as you …."

Lola smiled at the compliment then caught herself ." I don't want you thinking that I am cute ! Don't even talk to me ! I have to go ! "

" So your not going to tell me your name ?" he called , hoping she would give him that much though he supposed it wouldn't be too hard to find out who she was .

With her dark hair and exotic looks , he was attracted and intrigued all at once .

" NO ! " Lola grabbed her bag from him then ran in the direction of her friends table , nearly running straight into Michael , who was gasping for breath and slammed hysterically into the table , all the while pointing to her and grabbing a bottle of water from Logan's hand as he tried to speak .

" Michael , what's the matter ?' demanded Zoey, anxiously .

" Dude , what's wrong ?" this came from Logan as he watched Michael plop down on the ground in front of their usual table , winded from running and glaring at Lola .

" He's back," managed Michael, pointing a finger at Lola , accusingly ," and Lola was talking to him ! I saw you with him ! "

James was the calm out of their group. " Who is back ?"

" Oh crap …" muttered Lola , sinking down beside Quinn and stealing a French fry .

" Vince Blake "

" No ," Logan helped his friend into a seat as his temper worked its way up," there is no way that Vince Blake can be back at PCA , he was expelled ! "

" He is , man, " went on a panicked Michael ," I saw him with my own two eyes ! Lola was making chit chat with the man who beat us and Chase up last year ! "

All eyes turned to the brunette who shrugged and tried to ignore the looks of disbelief all of her friends were giving her . It wasn't as if she had planned on talking to the jerk.

" Lola ! " Quinn was the first to speak then stole a glance at Logan who looked like he was fighting within himself not to lose control and tried to catch his eye ," how could you ?"

Logan caught her gaze and sent her a small smile acknowledging her and couldn't wait to discuss this with her when they were alone . This wasn't good , not at all .

" I didn't know it was Vince ," defended Lola ," not until he spoke and I wasn't very nice . How can he be back here ?"

James lifted a hand, lost in the obvious unspoken conversation the friends were having around them .

" Uh, guys , care to fill me in," asked a confused James ," what's the story ?"

Zoey breathed a sigh, recalling the incident as if it had happened yesterday instead of last year . A lot had happened in a year .

" Vince Blake used to go here last year " started Logan ," he is like the best quarterback ..the best high school quarterback in the whole country …"

" Logan and I were on the team with him " added Michael, his voice back to normal .

" He was really popular " contributed Quinn, helpfully .

" None of this sounds bad so why are you freaking out, Michael ?" inquired James , who didn't understand the enormity of the situation and judging by the look of disbelief that Zoey was currently shooting his way , going to get him in trouble with the girlfriend .

" Chase caught Vince cheating last year ," explained an outraged Zoey , " and he threatened him but when Chase told the truth about what he had seen , Vince and his football idiots beat up all of the guys …"

Logan bristled , hurting from just thinking about it again ." The dude fights dirty "

" We need to do something about this ," Zoey stood up, determination in her voice ," he cannot be allowed to just walk back into PCA like nothing happened . Come on, Lola, Quinn, let's go have a word with Dean Rivers ! "

" Let's go " Quinn grabbed her backpack and urged for Lola to follow her as the girls forgot all about lunch and headed straight to see the Dean of PCA .

" We gotta tell Chase about this ," said Michael, helping himself to Zoey's fruit that she had deserted ," we have to do something about this ! "

" I know ," agreed Logan, readily ," he needs to pay for what he did to us ."

" Uh, guys , I'm sorry this guy beat you both up but do you think maybe he has already paid ," said James , logically ," you did say he was expelled ."

" Dude , who's side are you on here ? " demanded Michael ," I need to tell my lil Lisa about this .. I need the love and support of my woman ."

James lifted his palms as if to ward off anymore arguments and felt left out once again even though they had let them in their loop and tried to make amends .

" I'm with you guys on this , " said James ," I was just asking for some details ."

" The dude kicked my kidneys , man , what more do you need to know ?" asked Logan .

" I didn't need to know that much detail, Logan, but thanks " he remarked , sarcastically .

With A furious Zoey, an enraged Quinn, and an equally disgusted Lola , the three young woman had descended upon Dean Rivers to protest the reemergence of one Vince Blake and demand that he be kicked out of school once more . However , their anger fell on deaf ears as the Dean had informed them that Vince had been reformed with some intense therapy and would be attending PCA .

He wasn't going to change his mind or listen to them .

A few hours later , the girls met up with the guys on the patio and settled on the outdoor couches to exchange information while Logan and Michael paced, both still pissed off and reeling from the shock of what this meant for them .

" So Dean Rivers isn't going to do anything about Vince ?" asked Lisa, who had joined the gang as soon as she had received the frantic text from her boyfriend .

" No," Zoey scowled ," he didn't even care ! He said Vince had therapy and has changed "

" Changed ," Michael's eyes went wide ," the dude beat the pulp out of us ! "

He walked in front of his friends, releasing a heavy sigh , as Logan paced the opposite way , both of them convinced he would be out to seek revenge on them .

" He beat up me, Chase , and Michael " reiterated Logan, looking at Quinn for support .

Quinn sent him a soft smile, tempted to say something to soothe his nerves but knowing that it was impossible so she crossed her arms in front of her chest , thoughtful.

" We're going to snub him " declared Quinn, sharply .

" If he tries to talk to us ," continued Zoey,getting riled up again " we'll just ignore him."

Lola lifted her nose in the air, turned her head to demonstrate the snub. " Hmm "

" Your going to snub him ," Michael couldn't believe him," no offense , ladies, but he beat the tar out of us guys and Del Figgalo ."

Mark had tagged along ..unwillingly , to help defend Chase during the Vince incident .

Quinn rolled her eyes ." Mark probably deserved it ."

She had given it much thought and realized he had been a callous boyfriend most of the time and she hadn't done much to let him know how dissatisfied she really had been.

Lola frowned at the bitterness in her friends voice and fixed her with a stare .

" That's kind of mean, " remarked Lola, who had never been a fan of Mark in the first place but found this odd ," I mean, he was your boyfriend ."

Quinn opened her mouth to speak but kept quiet when Logan piped in his thoughts .

" Well, he's not anymore " shot back Logan, jealousy evident in his tone as all eyes turned at him including Quinn's brown ones who flashed with heat at him ," he's not ."

" I know you guys are upset ," cut in Lisa , taking Michael's hand into hers," and you have every right to but freaking out over this isn't going to change anything right now ."

" We need to give him some comeuppance " answered Michael, the thought taking hold in his mind and sticking ," get our revenge before he comes after us again."

Logan grinned and met his friends gaze ." I like that ."

" You guys cant fight him again ," added Lola ," he'll tear you up and break you before either one of you can raise a fist at him ."

" Thanks a lot, Lola " remarked Michael, giving her a pained look .

" Come on , Michael," encouraged Lisa ," why don't we go for a walk ."

" Your not going to talk me out of me and Logan giving Vince some comeuppance "

Lisa held onto his arm and smiled indulgently at him ." I can try ."

" You can try but it wont work " stated Michael , matter of fact ," we're doing this ."

" So, not that this isn't exciting and everything ," interrupted James, eager to change the subject on them before his roommates got even more riled up," but I noticed the sign up sheets for volunteers for the Harvest festival is up …."

The Harvest festival was like a fall festival that coincided with football season with activities , food booths , and various events and a play to kick the season off right .

It had been a staple at PCA during the 80's and Mr. Bender , one of the teenagers favorite teachers, was bringing it back, citing that it could be fun again for their generation.

" Oh my God , I forgot ," exclaimed Zoey, scooting closer to James," Mr. Bender put me in charge of setting it up this year . Can I count on you guys to help me out ?"

" Of course , you can " said James , sliding his arm around her shoulder and relaxed when she got comfortable as she had been giving off a weird vibe since Chase was mentioned .

The others mumbled that they would and Lola knitted her brows together , as a thought occurred to her .

" Oh is the list up of what play the drama club is going to do yet ?" asked Lola, curiously .

" I don't think so ," answered James, honestly ," but I didn't actually look for it ."

" Well, you should have ," Lola pushed herself off the couch with a tired sound ," I'm going to go and check it out for myself since you didn't , James ."

" Sorry , Lola "

" Hey Quinn, you want to come with me ," called Lola , hoping to appeal to her best friends instincts ," we could check out what play I'll be starring in then go check for cute guys in the lounge after …."

Logan bit the inside of his cheek and tried to push down the jealousy in his gut .

" I would but I really need to go to the library and study " explained Quinn, directing her gaze at Logan and hoping that he caught on ," you know, for that test I have …."

Lola frowned , baffled ." What test ?"

" Umm, history which , you know , isn't my favorite " managed Quinn with a dry laugh ," so, I'll see you guys later . Goodnight "

Quinn met Logan's eyes and flashed him a knowing look . He grinned back at her .

" We should totally talk about this comeuppance later ," spoke up Logan, eager for a quick get away from his friends ," you know , I'm hungry . I'm going to go and get something to eat …later ."

He headed off in the direction of Quinn leaving James and Zoey alone on the patio.

****************************PCA******************* ******************

" I don't need to cool off ," grumbled Michael as he and Lisa walked alongside of the fountain on campus ," I have every right to be mad about this , Lisa ."

Lisa tucked her hand into his arm and knew she had her work cut out for her . Michael hadn't been this upset in quite a while and this revenge idea had bad idea written all over it . It didn't help that Logan was on board with the idea either .

" I'm not saying that you don't but you don't want to sink to his level"

Michael patted her hand ." We're not going to beat him up ," reiterated Michael , exasperation in his tone ," I told you it's comeuppance time for Vince ."

" Michael, that sounds like something that will just get you and Logan into trouble "

Michael heaved a tired sigh," The girls didn't think it was a bad idea ! I didn't hear them saying oh don't do that except for Lola but she doesn't count ! It's Lola .."

" Well, I'm sure that Quinn was thinking it and chose not to vocalize it ," said Lisa ," come on, Mike, I don't want to see you get in trouble because you want to get back at this guy for embarrassing you last year ."

" I doubt that Quinn was thinking anything like that ," countered Michael, disappointed in her ," and it was more than embarrassed , it was humiliating ! "

" I wish that you wouldn't do this but I see you've got your heart set on this silly revenge ploy ," Lisa pressed a kiss against his lips , lightly ," so will you please try not to get in trouble because I would like to go to the Harvest festival with my boyfriend ."

" Comeuppance " corrected Michael," Vince will get his comeuppance in the end ."

" If you wont listen to me, your girlfriend ," tried Lisa once more ," then I hope you listen to Chase when he tells you not to do it . You are calling Chase I assume ?"

" Chase needs to know about this ," said Michael, matter of fact ," and it doesn't mean that he is going to disagree with me . Chase is my best friend ! He will understand why Logan and I must give Vince the comeuppance ."

" You're overreacting but I love you ," declared Lisa, " now come on, you can take me to Sushi Rox for some supper and green tea. "

" I thought you weren't eating sushi this week " said Michael, looking at her . She and one of her roommates had read some weird article in a magazine about raw fish so Lisa had sworn off sushi for a week , in case it was harmful to people .

He had thought it was crazy but he wouldn't dare tell his girlfriend that .

" I think I need the extra iron in my body " decided Lisa , taking his arm .

" Whatever you say, baby " agreed Michael, wondering if they could talk Quinn into letting them use one of her Quinnventions on Vince .

She had this thing about not using science for evil but this wasn't too evil.

It was just the comeuppance of it all.

**********************************PCA************* *******************

" Quinn "

" I'm right here " called Quinn , stepping out of the hidden knoll behind the science building and gave him the smallest of smiles ," I thought this is a good spot for privacy ."

" Cool " agreed Logan, dragging a hand through his brown curls in aggravation ," Man, I can't believe that Blake is back. Do you know how that makes me feel ?"

" I would gather that you're upset " deduced Quinn, urging him to sit beside her on the soft ground ," I should have thought to bring a blanket , it would have been more comfortable but this will just have to do ."

He sat down beside her and noticed the concern for him that was written in those brown eyes of hers that he seemed to be mesmerized more and more by .

" We were doing the right thing last year ," spoke up Logan, seriously ," even me . Us sticking up for Chase and helping him out ! That was the right thing to do and it was bad enough Blake beat us up ….but God , the humiliation , Quinn."

He hung his head and took a breath. " I know you girls helped mend our wounds and bruises and stuff but …this brings it all back . I'm not some light weight , Quinn, who can't fight ."

He paused to take her hand into his , studying the fuchsia color on her fingernails and intrigued at how right it felt with her .

" I can hold my own in a fight except this time ….I need to take this guy on one on one ."

" Logan ," Quinn bit the bottom of her lip and felt his pain ," I understand that your male pride has been wounded by Vince but I really don't think fighting him will make you feel any better ."

He touched a curl and loved the ways her eyes widened as if she was trying to puzzle her reaction to him. It amazed him how her brain worked and it showed on her expressive face.

" I don't want to be seen as some loser wimp by all of PCA either , Quinn."

" No one sees you like that, Logan , it's simply a manifestation of your insecurity brought on by the return of Vince ," says Quinn, gently ," and I think that you don't need to prove anything to anyone and neither does Michael ."

She couldn't get over how easy it was to talk to Logan and know that he was listening to her . When did this new comfortableness happen between them ? Had it always been there and neither of them acknowledged it ?

It was a very nice feeling and so different than how things had been with Mark .

She wasn't going to think about Mark and focused her attention back on Logan .

" You still think I'm the strongest, best looking guy at PCA?"

" You forgot your inflated ego but yes, Logan, you are ," admitted Quinn, finding herself leaning into him as she tried to get comfortable on the soft grass ," and though I understand your need for revenge , ignoring him is also wise ."

Logan didn't catch her meaning and shot her a baffled look. " I don't have any balloons to inflate , Quinn ."

She laughed, wryly ." That isn't what it means, Logan ," groaned Quinn, finding it amusing despite the fact it was so wrong ," I was talking about your ego ."

He smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist , pulling her into an embrace .

" Fine but me and Michael are still going to get some comeuppance " he said , firmly .

" I figured you would ," Quinn slid her arms around his neck ," and I'll snub him for you ."

" You'd do that for me ?' Logan lifted his brows at her .

" You and Michael " amended Quinn , a fluttery feeling surrounding her as he played with a curl ," Logan, what are you doing with my hair ?"

" The curls are all soft ," brought up Logan, vocalizing what he had been thinking once he had noticed she was wearing her brown hair differently this year ," it's pretty like this . I mean, the braids are you too but this suits you too."

" Who are you, Logan Reese ?' Touched and feeling very much moved by his compliments , Quinn hugged him, relaxing her head against his shoulder , as his arms closed around her , just holding her .

" You know who I am , Quinn " muttered Logan, kissing the shell of her ear .

" I thought so but your surprising me , Logan " Quinn kissed him, sweetly .

He took the kiss deeper then pulled back to look at her . " You'll still support me if I decide I have to call Vince out though . Right ?"

Laughter shone in her eyes . " Yes, Logan, I'll be rooting for you ."

Though it scared them both at these new sudden deepening of their feelings and whatever was happening between them, Quinn and Logan were enjoying the being wrapped up with each other that they didn't want to examine it too closely though later they both would .

While Logan was confiding his real feelings to Quinn, James was puzzling over his annoyance at the sole mention of Chase Matthews and wondering why he was allowing it to color his relationship with Zoey . He'd never even met the dude and it wasn't as if he was a threat to him and his relationship with her either .

" Are you calm now ? Your letting this thing rile you up an awfully lot, Zo "

Zoey took a drink of the javacino that he had given her and fixed him with a dubious look.

" I realize you weren't here when everything happened with Vince last year but he beat up three of our best friends "

" So your outraged for Logan and Michael or is it mainly Chase ?" blurted out James, wanting to kick himself in the face for bringing it up .

" What are you talking about ? Just what are you asking me , James ?" asked Zoey, her temper starting to rise with indignation at his silent accusation .

" Nothing , never mind ," said James , trying to backpedal ," I don't want to fight with you. You get ..weird whenever Chase is brought up and the guys got beat up because they were helping Chase and now you're all mad about it all over again ."

" I'm mad because Vince shouldn't be allowed back here and because the guys are some of my best friends ! I'm sorry if you don't understand that and I would have thought you would show some loyalty towards your roommates ."

" I am but they are really more of your friends , Zoey " reminded James as she stood up and sent him a scathing look that made him realize they were having their first fight as a couple .

How did this wind up being a fight ? He hated fighting and should have just left well enough alone and now he had made things worse .

Her eyes pierced him, coldly ." My friends ? Here I thought they were our friends ," Annoyed at him, Zoey was done for the night ," it's been a long day and I'm just not going to fight with you tonight . I'm going to go join Lola …..goodnight ."

His blue eyes cut through her as he pleaded with her ." Zo, I didn't mean it like that ..come on, lets talk about this ."

" I'm going to go try to figure out how to help my friends " huffed Zoey, walking away and feeling unsettled in her relationship with James and thinking to herself that Chase would never say anything like that . Chase might fight with the guys but he'd also be the first to do anything to help Michael and Logan .

She needed to stop this comparing Chase and James right now .

James sunk down on the now empty sofa and groaned to himself .

" Great ," he muttered to himself ," now I'm picking up Logan's obnoxious ways ."


	9. Chapter 9

" Chase ! Chase ! Chase ! "

" Come on, dude, give him a minute ," said Logan," you know Chase is slow , man ."

Michael rolled his eyes upwards . " Chase , come on ! "

" Not again," Colin glared evilly at his roommate and the laptop ," who is that caterwauling ? "

" That would be Michael with Logan " deduced Chase , taking a seat at the desk and ready for some nice guy talk with his friends ," what's up ? "

Michael looked like he was about to jump out of his skin so Chase wasn't sure if that meant something good had happened or bad . His best friend was easily excitable .

" Chase , you will not believe who is back at PCA " said Michael, dramatically ," if I hadn't seen him with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it either !"

" I'm not sure that I should guess ," said an apprehensive Chase ," but tell me anyway."

" Vince Blake " Logan dropped the bomb, so to speak and watched as Chase recoiled as if he had been slapped all the way across the pond and shook his head, violently .

" No , there is no way ! " Chase stood up, pacing as much as his friends were so it was almost like they were freaking out together in a way ," he was expelled ! He cheated then he beat us up ! How can he be back ? "

" Supposedly Vince had all this intense therapy and has changed but me and Michael don't buy it ," added Logan, hands on his hips ," neither do the girls ."

" How do you know about the therapy and stuff ? Did he tell one of you ?" He felt on edge and noticed that Michael seemed jumpy and Logan looked restless .

Not that he could blame them when he was on the same edge with them .

" Zoey, Lola, and Quinn went and raised some hell with Dean Rivers over Blake but he didn't care what they had to say " contributed Michael , helpfully.

" The girls found out about the whole therapy lie " added Logan, crossing his arms .

Chase had to stop himself from asking stupid questions about Zoey when he already knew the answers . It made sense that she and the girls would be angry for them . It didn't mean anything , let alone anything that had to do with him .

" Has Vince come looking for you guys yet ?" asked Chase , curiously .He couldn't help but to be fearful for his friends as he recalled quite vividly how bad they had all gotten beaten at the hands of Vince . It had been painful for them all.

" Vince is the type of guy who's going to remember you guys helped me . I'm thinking this is going to be dangerous , man ."

" No, I don't think he's seen us yet ," informed Michael , " though he did try to talk to Lola ! "

Chase frowned , dubious ." Lola ? What would Vince want with Lola ?"

The guys gave him a look as if they couldn't believe he was actually asking them this .

" I bet there are things the dude would like to do with Lola "

" Logan, " Michael smacked him," don't be stupid . Lola's our friend .."

" Lola hates my guts ," pointed out Logan, because it was true ," and you know you were both thinking it . Vince is trying to get to us by using the girls ..or Lola ."

He'd better not try anything with Quinn ' he thought to himself , angrily .

" That does make sense , in a way " conceded Michael , " go through our lady friends before Vince comes after us."

" He was a charmer with the ladies but I don't think the girls would fall for that " added Chase , glancing back to notice that Colin wasn't griping at him and seemed to be listening in to the web chat . They'd have to talk about minding ones own business.

" Quinn wouldn't …" blurted out Logan, without thinking ," I mean, she's too smart for that kind of thing ."

Michael shook his head and plopped down on the couch, staring at his friend onscreen.

" Logan and I are going to give the dude his comeuppance before he gets to us "

" Comeuppance ," Chase liked the sound of this but at the same time the guys had that crazy look in their eyes that he recognized as trouble . Trouble he often helped with and joined in with and would miss this time and felt left out ," like the sound of that but I got to ask it . What do you guys have in mind for the comeuppance ?"

" A face full of humiliation like he gave us when he beat us up " told Logan with a smirk.

It was good , now that they were planning the revenge .They weren't going to sit around and wait for Vince to beat the pulp out of them again though he still sort of wanted to take him on one on one except he had promised Quinn he wouldn't do that unless he was provoked .

So, comeuppance would have to do .

" I'm totally on board with the comeuppance," told Chase , reasonable ," just ,you know, try not to get yourselves expelled or anything bad in the process ."

" Lisa thought you'd try to talk us out of it " added Michael with a hysterical laugh.

" Your girlfriend didn't get a bloody nose either so no, I wont ," answered Chase with a laugh of his own ," wish I was there for the comeuppance ."

" Can't you just come home already ?" asked a whiny Michael, who missed his best friend and turned his puppy dog eyes on him .

" Man, I wish I could but the parents aren't budging yet " told Chase , with a groan ," so, besides the humiliation that Logan is scheming to give Vince , what other kinds of revenge you have in mind ?"

Logan stopped his pacing and a small smile flickered across his face .

" We thought we'd ask Quinn if she'd loan us one of her Quinnventions ," answered Logan, the thought of her sparkling brown eyes behind the glasses making him happy just thinking about her ," anything that would explode on him would be cool ."

" We were thinking explosives " added Michael, placing a hand on Logan's shoulder .

" So, basically , any of Quinn's inventions ," Chase shared a familiar grin with his friends ," but will she let you ? I mean, revenge is kind of evil . You know how she doesn't like to use her science for evil ..we've all heard it a million times ."

" Quinn didn't like what Vince did to us ," stated Logan, firmly ," I don't think she'll have a problem with loaning us something ….."

Michael stared at him in disbelief ." Did you already ask Quinn ? "

Crap !

" Uh, no, but I mean , you heard her and the girls !" Logan tried to think fast before Michael got suspicious ," Why wouldn't Quinn want to help us "

" So, how is Quinn ? " asked Chase , leaning back in his chair to get comfortable ," I heard about the break up with Del Figgalo , I mean ."

" Quinn's fine " answered Logan, not thinking ," not crying over that loser or anything."

" When did you get all the details about Quinn , Logan ? You guys can barely be together for five minutes before you fight and bicker and now you know she's over Mark ? " Michael chuckled at the amusement of it all and fixed him with a dubious look .

Logan grew flustered ." I don't ," answered Logan," I mean, it seems like she is over Del Figgalo ! Not that I care about Quinn ! "

Chase had to fight back his laughter at Logan's horrible denial.

" You and Quinn are kind of friends now ," brought up Chase , unable to resist goading his friend ," right , Logan ? "

" Uh, yeah, kind of friends " managed Logan, shooting him a death glare which he ignored ," but we were talking about comeuppance ."

" You are acting weird, man " Michael told Logan then turned towards Chase ," he's been acting weird . So , Lisa and I made up , Chase ! It was a close call , I did a stupid thing and I almost lost her ."

" Don't do anything stupid again, Michael " replied Chase , patiently ," you've got a good thing with Lisa so don't push her into anything she doesn't want to do ."

" I could have told him that ," Logan made a face ," oh wait, I did ! "

" You date just one girl for more than a day and maybe I'll think about taking advice from you, Logan " Michael jabbed his friend with the football .

Logan considered blurting out that he had strong feelings for Quinn to his friend but things were still new and he didn't want to ruin them before they even got going steady.

Quinn was just now beginning to open up to him and he felt as if he was suddenly able to tell her things he hadn't ever mentioned to anyone before .

God, he was starting to act like a girl !

" You need advice , Michael ?" James stepped in the room, stopping when he noticed the webcam was on and his roommates were talking to the famous Chase Matthews .

" Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt or anything …."

" No ," answered Michael, the air suddenly heavy with tension ," so , James , you have got to meet Chase "

James and Chase stared each other down, neither one wanting to blink or show weakness as they took the others worth . They looked nothing alike . Blonde Greek God dude and a bushy-haired clumsy guy ..oh yeah, hard choice for Zoey right there .

Chase thought the dude looked uptight but what did he know ? Michael said James was cool and there was no way that Zoey would date someone who was boring .

He looked perfect though with the blonde good looks and the perfect crisp polo shirt .

" You're James ," Chase held his gaze and managed a tight smile ," good to meet you finally . Uh, I've heard cool things about you from the guys and …Zoey ."

James nodded , slightly ." Same here , Chase ," replied James , trying not to be jealous of the bushy haired guy on the screen ," everyone around here misses you ."

" That's what I heard ," Chase tightened his grip on the chair ," so, listen , I really need to get going . Mike, Logan, revenge is good but don't try to get killed either ."

" We wont , man "

" We'll catch you later , Chase " contributed Logan , wishing he could at least mention Quinn to him without Michael and James suspecting anything .

" Cool , bye ," Chase waved at them," Nice to meet you, James . "

" You too "

" Take good care of Zoey " With that, Chase ended the conversation, then leaned back in his chair, and let out a tired sigh . Now he got why Zoey fell for James and it made perfect sense - the guy was perfect and he couldn't compete against that .

" You lead a pathetic life, Chase " noted Colin, casually as if talking about the weather .

" I know , Colin , I know ," Chase ran a hand through his hair ," I think I need to date ."

**************************************PCA********* *********************

Lola surveyed the Harvest Festival activities board with a critical eye , not wanting to volunteer herself for something gross that included hard work ( she knew that she would be helping Zoey with something since her friend was in charge of it this year ) but she scrawled her bold name on the audition sheet for the female lead of Othello .

Part play, part musical . Hmm, she didn't know what that meant but as long as she got the lead then she was up to anything

Lola Martinez was a star .

Though she didn't understand how Othello tied in with the festival or football but never mind, it didn't matter one way or the other in the scheme of things . She would totally blow everyone away as Desdemona .

When she set her mind to winning a role , Lola got the role .

The singing might be a stretch ( she was a serious actress , not a singer ) but her voice wasn't bad either . She would just have to practice singing a lot .

" Wow , Desdemona ," Vince Blake zeroed in on the pretty brunette like a man on a mission which he supposed he was as he approached her ," you must be a very talented actress ."

The flirtatious tone of the stranger appealed to her in a way that surprised her as she whirled around , eager to see who the guy was and found herself face to face with the last person she wanted to see and her temper flared up.

" You again ! Are you following me ? " demanded Lola, eyes gleaming angrily at him.

She didn't care how cute he was , he was scum who beat up her friends !

Vince laughed , holding his palms upwards as if to ward off an attack . He had heard around the PCA grapevine that the three girls who roomed in 101 were feisty bunch .

He could appreciate feisty in a woman.

" No, not exactly ," hedged Vince , shooting her an easy smile ," I do think somehow we got off on the wrong foot , Lola ."

" How do you know my name ? I never told you my name ! " Lola felt her temperature rise and a ping in her chest from his steady and really cute way he was staring at her .

She hadn't felt a tiny ping since forever !

True , her little crush on Chase had given her a ping or two but that wasn't the same thing because they had turned out way better as great friends .

This was completely different and she didn't like to be caught off guard !

" Your pretty and popular ," explained Vince, wanting to put her at ease with him and maybe dispel some of the bad about him from his actions of last year. Not to mention wipe that angry scowl off of her pretty mouth that he was dying to kiss ," it wasn't that hard to find out your name . "

" I'm Vince "

" Don't be cocky ! I 'm not stupid ! I know exactly who you are and I hate you ! "

Vince blew out a long breath. " Wow, hate is pretty strong ," replied Vince, tamping down the sharp sense of regret he felt from his previous actions ," since I'm positive we never dated - huge mistake on my part - would you mind telling me why you hate me ?"

" You remember Chase Matthews, Michael Barrett , and Logan Reese ? Don't you ?" accused Lola, her eyes flashing at him ," oh, and you hung Mark Del Figgalo from a basketball hoop thingie ! You beat the snot out of my friends ! "

Vince winced at the incident that had gotten him kicked out of PCA with the clarity of a reformed man who knew he had his work cut out to try to make things right . He had hoped the students would have forgotten by now but that wasn't the case , atll.

Lola hadn't forgotten and apparently not everyone was ready to forgive and forget him.

Except for his former football clique and a handful of girls that he had dated that hadn't cared about his cheating and bullying .

He wasn't that guy anymore and now he had to try to prove he had changed for the better .

Vince was contrite ." I'm sorry about that," replied Vince , hoping that he could make her understand that he was being sincere ," I had a lot of troubles last year . I know that isn't the point and it doesn't make what I did any less bad but I'm not that guy anymore …"

Lola crossed her arms over her chest , glaring at him . " We all have issues but most of us don't go beating up other people unless they are mean , evil bullies ," Lola bit her lower lip , trying to ignore the shiver of attraction that went along with the ping she was feeling for him ," and a leopard can't just change his spots and then say that oh I had issues that caused me to beat up dudes ! "

Despite her argument which was valid and cute as hell, Vince's lip curved in a small smile and he knew he had to get to know this girl better .

How had he not ever met her before ? Or had he met her and been so self-involved he had forgotten her ? It was a mystery to him.

" Can we go somewhere to talk ," asked Vince," I'll buy you some food and a beverage of your choice ..will you hear me out ? I want to explain to you that I'm not the guy who did all of that stuff , Lola ."

NO

'No' was on the tip of Lola's tongue , the word was screaming loudly in her mind ( in Quinn's voice ) and she knew she should just snub him like they had planned to and walk away from the big jerk wad . Except one part of her kind of wanted to hear what he had to say and he wasn't leering at her either .

Logan was stupid most of the time but they all still usually listened to what he had to say so in her mind, it couldn't hurt to hear Vince out .

If he was lying to her, she would know and then she would have important info or Intel or stuff that would be handy for Michael and Logan and their comeuppance .

" You could buy me sushi and we could eat there ," decided Lola, matter of fact ," Sushi Rox and don't expect all of that sweet talking is going to fool me. I know that your reputation with the girls is way worse that Logan and he's a jerk …."

" I'm not very good with the sweet talk but you have my word , Lola " Vince ushered her towards the door ," if you don't like what I have to say, you can punch me ."

" I don't have a problem with that " told Lola , allowing him to lead her out of the lounge and across the quad and over the hill to the sushi restaurant they frequented .

She tried to ignore the feel of his hand on her back and told herself that she couldn't be attracted to Vince Blake . It was gross and unthinkable .

" You are really cute , Lola "

" I am not cute " stated Lola, secretly pleased by the compliment ," just shut up until we get to the restaurant ."

Vince had a feeling getting to know Lola Martinez wasn't going to be easy but it might be worth it in the long run.

She was incredible and he wanted to get to know her .much better .

Quinn was letting go of the past , her past with Mark, as she knocked on the door to his dorm room, a small box of things he had given her during their two year dating courtship , in her arms and nary the dull ache that it was over .

Maybe she was really over him , maybe she had been over him for some time but Quinn didn't care to analyze it to closely . She just wanted to drop off this box of stuff and then go meet Logan at their spot . He had texted her twenty minutes ago suggesting they meet in their usual hidden spot and she had responded that they should try studying together before making out to better test their compatibility .

Not that she couldn't wait to be in his arms and his wonderful kisses .

The door opened and Mark stared at her , a plain baked potato in his hand and the same expression he always wore on his face when he noticed her standing there .

" Quinn , what are you doing here ?"

" Don't worry , it's nothing ," Quinn shoved the box into his arms ," this is everything I have left of our failed relationship. I don't think that I left anything out …..though Lola might have burned a few notes but I am not responsible for my best friends actions ."

Mark glanced at the picture of himself ." I had that painting made special for you."

Quinn rolled her eyes and bit her tongue ." Give it to Brooke . I'm sure she will love it ."

" Our relationship wasn't all that awful, Quinn …" said Mark, forehead crinkling .

" You broke up with me ," reminded Quinn, biding her temper ," I don't want to talk about our relationship anymore , Mark. We're over and I'm happy ..I'm good with that so I hope Brooke enjoys the special painting ..now if you will excuse me, I have plans ."

Hitching her backpack on her shoulder , Quinn couldn't wait to escape Mark and practically raced out of the dorm, eager to be with Logan .

She really felt free of Mark now and couldn't wait to tell Logan that she was over him .

It was sweet the way Logan had nearly flown off the handle when Lola had mentioned Mark's name the other night . She was really enamored by this sweet , soft side of Logan and felt like she was the only one who got to see this side of him .

" Quinn, where's the fire ?" asked Lisa, who she nearly collided into as the two girls ran in opposite directions ," can you talk for a minute ?"

Quinn let out a breath and plastered a polite smile on her face . " Um, sure , Lisa , but I'm in a really big hurry to….study date but how are you?"

Lisa smiled , noticing how Quinn seemed to be in a hurry ." Date ? Anyone I know ?"

Quinn laughed, nervously , and averted her gaze ." Not a date ….I mean, that would be crazy ! I'm so not ready to date anyone …just studying ."

" If you say so, Quinn, " replied Lisa with a nod ," I'm going to drag Michael away before he and Logan continue on with their crazy revenge plans and get caught . The guys hanging out in the lounge ?"

" Uh, no," answered Quinn, glancing at her watch ," must be video game night cuz I never saw Michael or Logan …or James …not that I care about stupid Logan. I hate him but I just dropped ..I gave Mark back all of his stuff ."

Lisa touched her arm, a concern expression on her face. " Are you alright ? Was it difficult ? "

" Not really ," managed Quinn, trying to be polite to her friend but wanting to get away to be with Logan ," he was Mark. I am so over him, Lisa , so it's all good but you should probably talk Michael out of whatever crazy thing he is planning on doing to Vince . I think you're the only one who can talk him out of it …so, I should go now . Don't want to be late ..studying ."

" Have fun ' Shaking her head and feeling as if she was missing something with the scientist , Lisa headed inside the boys dormitory as Quinn raced off , fast .

*************************************PCA********** ******************

Sushi Rox wasn't packed for a change so Lola and Vince got a table in back for better privacy . She was going to tell her friends what she learned from Vince once this thing was over and she ate but she didn't want the rumors flying around like they did when James and Zoey had gone for sushi together for the first time . Though Zoey shouldn't have been too mad about it considering a couple days later she and James had been officially dating but she didn't need the backlash against her with Vince .

She had no desire to date Vince at all , this was for the good of the guys and not her social life ..

Lola took a drink of her green tea and folded her hands across the table .

" I'm not much of a green tea drinker , a Blix would have been better "

Vince chuckled ," I will order you a Blix with your spicy tuna rolls ."

" Thanks ," Lola tried to calm the pinging in her chest ," did you have like electric shock therapy so now you're a new person ? Because my best friend is a scientist and she has ways of making a person tell the truth so I can find out if you are lying to me ."

" That sounds scary and painful ," replied Vince , growing serious ," and no, it wasn't electric shock therapy but after the incident here , I went through some pretty intense therapy that ..well, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was always going to be a disappointment to my father and that me lashing out and cheating on exams wasn't going to make the old man like me any better …."

" A lot of people hate their Dads " pointed out Lola , taking a sip of the tea, anyway .

She didn't want to listen, tried not to let his sad story get to her , but the sadness in his eyes as he mentioned his father with disdain had her leaning towards him .

Most kids wouldn't lie about how they felt about their parents , this was a fact .

" My Dad had these grand, lofty plans for my life ," continued Vince , holding her gaze which gave him the push he needed to confide in her ," being the best , his best at football and my grades, and I just wasn't cutting it . It was a lot of pressure so I took the easy way out by cheating and using my power as the big man on campus to my advantage but it didn't change anything . I still got expelled and my father was so pissed at me ….and my mother isn't always around when I need her so I lost a lot of insight I should have had but I chose to ignore . Believe me ,Lola,when I got thrown into that clinic for therapy , it was the reality check that I needed though I hated it ."

Lola leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand and really absorbing his story .

" What did you do ?"

" Once I got past fighting with the people who wanted to help me, I really got into the program ," admitted Vince , who hadn't confided in anyone about what he had gone through until now . Lola was something else , he knew this immediately ," it helped me to learn how to become a better person. I had to stand up to my Dad which really sucked big time but he's dealing with accepting that its my life and I have every right to live it the way I want to."

" I do yoga and meditation now . I used to think it was a load of crap all the Buddha new age stuff but it really calms and centers me ," breathed Vince, imploring that she believe him," I also do some community service , helping out the elderly and trying to be more aware and less self absorbed than I was before ."

" So does all of this new guy stuff mean that you are going to apologize to the guys ?"

Vince reached across the table, covering her hand with his own . " I do owe the guys an apology if they'll listen to me, that is ."

" They are still pretty mad at you but you could try " answered Lola , her heart beating wildly against her chest ," I might be able to talk to them first and maybe get them used to the idea . Michael can be reasonable except when he's freaking out and you're on your own with Logan …Chase is in England and Del Figgalo is around ."

He grinned, taking her offer as the sign he had been hoping for from her .

" Does this mean that you believe me, Lola ? "

" Don't get carried away if I say that I do believe you," pointed out Lola, calling the shots ," which I do but that still doesn't prove that your not lying about the whole apologize to the guys things . I wont believe that until I see it with my own two eyes …"

Vince swallowed the lump of guilt and nervousness in the pit of his stomach and nodded .

" You could maybe arrange for me to have a conversation with them ?"

" I could do that ," Lola stared at his lips , wondering of their kiss ability because the were some fine lips the man had ," but I will not be responsible for whatever Michael and Logan decide to do to you ! They aren't acting very mature about you being back .."

" That's a chance that I have to take ," Vince leaned closer to her , her perfume intoxicating his senses ," that's another thing I am doing these days ..taking chances . Which is why I wondered if you would consider going out on a date with me ?"

Lola pulled her hand away from his and frowned ." I'll have to think about it ."

" Ask me anything , Lola ," suggested Vince , determined to win her over ," I swear that I will give you an honest answer and if you still don't believe me after supper then I'll apologize to your friends and leave you alone ."

" You could order me that Blix now while I think of questions " teased Lola , ignoring the text from Zoey on her phone and digging into the spicy tuna with relish . She didn't dare confess that she counted this supper as a semi-trial date or else he would have the upper hand and that wouldn't do . She always controlled the relationship .

She was leaning towards a maybe about that date with Vince Blake .

*********************************PCA************** ********************

Logan paced anxiously in the hidden spot that he had decided was perfect and private for him and Quinn to meet, just enough trees and shrubs, and big rocks and far away from campus that they wouldn't be easily spotted . He glanced at his phone , noting that she was late and wondered if she had changed her mind or couldn't get away .

A part of him was afraid she had given them more thought and changed her mind .

He didn't know what he would do or how he would feel if that was the case .

All of these new overwhelming feelings he had for the pretty scientist was like a clutch in his heart and washing over him making him feel and care deeply for her .

" Logan," Quinn burst into their hideaway , out of breath," sorry I'm late but who knew that Mark would suddenly want to talk to me and then Lisa wanted to chat too ! Have you been waiting long ?"

Logan breathed a sigh of relief and took her in his arms ." Naw , just a few minutes ," He bent to kiss her ," wait , you went and saw your ex-boyfriend ?"

" Yes , " explained Quinn, hands on her hips in defense at his tone with her ," I gave Mark back all of the things he had given me while we were dating …."

Jealousy tinged Logan's voice as he stared directly at her ." He broke up with you, Quinn. You could have just dumped his stuff in front of his door , you didn't have to talk to the dude !"

" Mark may have been callous but that doesn't mean that I am ," reacted Quinn, folding her arms across her chest in defense ," and believe me , I had no intention of talking to him in the first place . I wouldn't have even spoken if he hadn't been put out by the fact that I was returning his painting " She scoffed ," I think that actually insulted him , like I would even consider keeping that portrait ."

" You were all gushy and sappy over that painting ," recalled a bitter Logan, remembering the incident with clarity ," surprised you didn't want to hang onto it ."

Quinn placed a hand on his arm and lifted her brown eyes to his , detecting hurt in his eyes . Was that even possible ?

" I returned all of Mark's things because I don't need any reminders of my relationship with him ," says Quinn, softly," I am over him. I think I have been for a while ….I think I was just afraid to admit to myself that I was ."

The corners of his lips twisted in a relieved smile ." Cool ," said Logan, leading her over to the blue blanket he had sat out on the grass for them ," I never got what you saw in Del Figgalo in the first place …."

Quinn sat down , leaned into him, and Logan wrapped his arms around her , holding her close to him and enjoyed the comfortable silence between them .

" Were you in love with Dana ? " blurted out Quinn, without thinking . She bit her lip and shook her head as if she could take it back, " it doesn't matter , Logan, you don't have to answer that . It was a million years ago ….I don't even know why I asked you that ."

Dana Cruz was a beautiful girl who had spent her first year at PCA rooming with Zoey and her then roommate, Nicole Bristow, and had enjoyed tormenting Quinn more often than not . She had also had an on-going flirtation with Logan at that time .

She hadn't thought it had meant anything to her , it was so in the past yet obviously her subconscious thought otherwise .

Logan did something uncharacteristic for him, he kissed her hair and held her close as he contemplated admitting the truth to her . He had also given Chase and Michael his usual ' she's hot and it was just making out ' deal but this was different .

" Quinn, I haven't thought about Dana in years ," admitted Logan, entwining their hands and noticing how she was quiet as she listened to him," Why do you even want to know ? I don't think any of that stuff matters ….."

" I care about you , Logan, " says Quinn, softly ," of course it matters but it is a silly question so you don't have to feel like you should answer it . Dana has nothing to do with us …or our relationship ."

There was that word again - relationship - he should have been running for the hills but it only made him feel closer to Quinn instead . It couldn't hurt to tell her the truth .

" I liked Dana ," confessed Logan, under his breath," there was an attraction between us but that was natural. I'm hot, she's hot ,so it made total sense for us to go out ….."

Quinn fought back her own jealousy ,telling herself it was absurd and ridiculous and in the past and she had wanted to know . Logan wasn't under any kind of obligation to tell her the truth about his past conquests ..she would really rather not know about those .

" I liked her though but I wasn't in love with her or anything ," went on Logan, " I totally think she was into me though ." He flashed her a cocky grin ," can't blame her for appreciating my hotness ."

Quinn rolled her eyes and nodded . " Right because so few girls do .."

" Now can we get back to the making out , Quinn ?" pleaded a desperate Logan, nuzzling her neck and making her giggle ," I missed you and can our friends be any more annoying ? Did Lola really have to sit by you ? "

Quinn caressed the side of his face and brushed her lips over his, once , twice , and then pressed her forehead against his . " I want to talk, Logan …."

He groaned in distress ." Quinn, come on! We did talk ! I told you how I wasn't into Dana ..I shared with you . Can't I kiss you now ?"

" After we talk ," declared Quinn, firmly ," I don't want our relationship to just be about us making out, Logan. Clearly there is more real between us than just our chemistry and that's important to me …."

He groaned ." Why ? What do you want to talk about ? It's not like the girls I hooked up with ..er, made out with ever wanted to get to know me better or anything and I've already told you more than I ever have told anyone . Even Chase and Michael, Quinn…"

This earned him another delightful kiss from her . " Mark never wanted to talk ," admitted Quinn, under her breath," I feel like what we have isn't just one sided , Logan, and I don't know everything about you . In the past two weeks I discovered that you can be sweet and romantic and thoughtful and I never would have known or believed that about you …"

Logan colored ," Don't say that too loud, Quinn! "

" It's just us ," went on Quinn, on a roll and determined to get him to open up more to her ," and unlike those other girls, I thought we were having a relationship . Did I misunderstand , Logan ? Does dating mean something different to you ?"

A quick jolt of panic went through him. " No! I mean, I've just never wanted to be in one with one girl until you, Quinn, so I guess I don't know how to do all the sensitive crap and stuff ," explained Logan, afraid that someone would overhear him or that he might drive her away with the truth ," I might do stupid stuff compared to what your used too ..I mean, sure I could give you a picture of myself . I am much better looking than Del Figgalo but I don't want to be the way he was with you cause it's not me ….I'm sort of stupid, I guess ."

He cringed admitting it but this was new territory for him . He didn't understand what she wanted and he was really flying by the seat of his pants here and hoping he didn't make a fool out of himself or botch things up between them.

" I don't want you to be like Mark ," admitted Quinn, detecting the insecurity in his voice and found it endearing to her ," and your not stupid , Logan. I happen to know that you can be quite smart and clever when you want to be ….."

He sighed ," Well, when all my friends call me 'stupid ' ….never mind, I don't care ."

" Oh, it doesn't mean anything ," reassured Quinn, rubbing his arm , soothingly ," we like to give you a hard time . I think you just need to apply yourself more so I thought it might be nice if we could study together today ..just for a little while ."

" Quinn but making out ? Come on, you cant tell me you don't want too ?"

Her lips curved in a playful smile ." After we study for an hour "

What was it about that stubborn tilt of her chin and her bossiness that was so sexy ?

" Fine ," relented Logan, giving into her without anymore of an argument ," so, what you were saying earlier is that you were totally jealous that I was into Dana ? "

She moved away from his arms to pull a book out of her backpack. " Please, Logan, you and I were barely even friends back then so I would hardly go as far to say that I was jealous …. It might have annoyed and irritated me is all ."

" She's got some fancy French boyfriend , you know " informed Logan, pleased that she was jealous ," Dana sends me emails occasionally about them. You don't have to worry about me and her …"

" I wasn't worried " lied Quinn, secretly pleased that he wasn't secretly in love with Dana or anything . Never mind that she might have thought he had been handsome even back then though he had been a total pig …he had changed and matured some since those days .

His grin was irrestible ." You totally were , Quinn ! That's okay though …there are a lot of girls at this school who want me ."

" Gee , thanks for the reminder , Logan ," says Quinn, dryly ," just what I needed to hear that all the brainless , sexy trollops are still after you as we embark on our relationship ."

Logan felt like exploding ! He wasn't good at talking and now he had pissed her off !

Logan tossed the book off of her lap and wrapped her in his arms, tilting her chin and then kissing her long and hard , making her sigh into the kiss , their fight and talk forgotten as she just felt the warmth and the longing between them .

" I don't care about those other girls ," stated Logan, huskily ," and I want us to work, Quinn. " He swallowed the giant lump that was in his throat ," you don't have any competition because I only have eyes for you ."

It was corny , sappy , and mushy but totally true and as embarrassed by it as he was , Logan was desperate for her to believe him.

" I believe you," smiled Quinn, happily ," and I am very much over Mark , in case , you were jealous or worrying that I wanted him back . I don't ….and I really like you too."

She slipped her arms around his neck ," I think this talk has been beneficial to us ."

He pressed a kiss against the shell of her ear ." Me , too "

Quinn gave him a little nudge and they tumbled onto the blanket , as she let out a slight laugh and a mischievous look in her eyes .

" I think we should study later " declared Quinn as she bent to touch her lips to his , both of them feeling confident in their relationship and happy with the change in it , unaware that someone on the PCA campus has witnessed them together .


	10. Chapter 10

" Stop everything ," demanded Lola upon entering room 101 where her roommates were busy doing their own thing ," I am calling a girls shopping day !"

Zoey bookmarked the place in the book she had been reading to look up at her with mild curiosity . " Not that I'm not for a girls day out or anything , Lola, but why do we need to have one right this minute ?"

Sometimes Lola could be too spontaneous .

Lola heaved a sigh and fixed Quinn with a knowing look. Surely her best friend would get why they needed to get off campus and go shopping and hang out and be all girly for a while .

Quinn put the screwdriver down along with her latest Quinnvention . " No, why ?"

Lola groaned at her roommates and plopped down on the edge of Zoey's bed , and gave the blonde a pointed look .

" Zo, are you and James still fighting ?"

Zoey closed her book and climbed off the bed , troubled by the fact that she hadn't made a point to try to talk to her boyfriend and clear the air between them since their argument .

She didn't like things to sit and fester but his remark really hit her in the wrong place .

" I don't know if fighting is the right thing to call it ," Zoey tried to explain ," James is being an insensitive jerk to which I have never seen with him before ….I might be avoiding him right now ."

She crossed her arms over her chest . " I guess we are fighting ."

Lola was happy, not happy her friends were fighting but it would help her to sell the whole shopping trip thing , for sure , which would be a much easier way for her to broach her slight attraction to Vince while they were trying on cute dresses and shoes .

" He is rooming with Logan ….you know , some of his stupidity has to rub off "

Quinn stood up, on the defense of her new boyfriend , and spoke without really considering the facts . She knew Lola could go hours bashing on Logan and she just wasn't in the mood to hear it and he wasn't here to defend himself either .

" Logan hasn't done anything ! I mean, he hasn't been that much of a jerk ! "

Zoey and Lola turned to gape un believably at their bespectacled best friend, baffled .

" Why are you defending Logan, Quinn ?" inquired Zoey, with a frown .

" I..I'm not defending him," backpedaling Quinn, silently berating herself for her slip ," I'm just …stupid Logan ..he never made James say what he did about the guys , I mean. That would be ridiculous since the guys are friends and James insulted Logan and Michael in a sense .. I don't know ."

God, what was wrong with her ?

Logan had her all twisted up in her feelings for him and she wasn't thinking clearly which was so unlike her .There was a lot more to Logan Reese than what everyone saw from him and she felt like his ego was a lot more of a façade that he put up himself .

Since she had started spending time alone with Logan, she was seeing this whole other side of him -this sweet, caring side of the egomaniac .

" You defended Logan which is another reason we need to get out of here and go shopping ! Mark has you all screwed up …..I told you burning his stuff would have been more helpful but noooo, Quinn, you had to give him it all back "

" Lola, I am over Mark, I can assure you of this ! I'm moving past the whole break up as I have been , there isn't any reason for you guys to worry about me anymore " stated Quinn, matter of fact ," I am fine . "

" What dangerous, exploding thingie are you making now ?" demanded Lola, motioning to the bubbling colorful liquids that the scientist had in her work space in the middle of the dorm . She wasn't buying what Quinn was selling either .

" Oh, its hardly explosive ," dismissed a non-plussed Quinn," or toxic either . Michael asked me to make a neutralizer for the next time he borrowed James cologne to counteract the woodsy scent of it . I considered mixing some of his pheromones in as well but I was afraid it would attract more girls to him and Lisa wouldn't be happy if I made her boyfriend a female magnet ."

She had actually been tinkering with her laser ankle in between working on the neutralizer for her friend since she felt as if she had been slacking off on her inventions since her break up with Mark and since she had started dating Logan.

" Hey, I bought James that cologne ," protested Zoey , taking offense ," it smells woodsy and rugged . Why is Michael having you make a neutralizer for it ?"

" He doesn't want to smell like the woods ," answered Lisa, joining the girls ," sorry, Zo, but that would be my guess . My boyfriend usually borrows Chase or Logan's cologne but he borrowed James recently and I thought I was hugging a tree ….."

" Quinn, did Michael really ask you to make that for him ? "

" His idea, not mine ," Quinn smiled up at her ," I was happy to help. I haven't really dabbled much in perfumes, colognes, or anything of that nature so it will give me a chance to compile some new data on it . I have been working on expanding the range on my zap watch …."

" He can be really sweet " gushed Lisa, plopping down on the couch," so are we going shopping ? I passed Coco in the hall and she was totally fine with us borrowing her car and Dean Rivers has been in a more lenient mood about off campus shopping trips and stuff since his wife started telling him he was acting like a prison warden ."

" I really need to finish this up .." started Quinn , hesitantly ," but shopping sounds fun ."

" Good ," encouraged a happy Lola ," oh don't make that face, Zoey, you know you need to shop just like we do ! Wouldn't a cute new top make you feel better over your fight with James ?"

" I could use a new top " agreed Zoey, " let's go before I talk myself out of it ."

Quinn put aside her neutralizer and put things safely away and gathered her purse and phone , sending a quick text to Logan to let him know they couldn't meet tonight .

" I'm ready ," announced the scientist ," let's go ! "

The four girls raced out of the dorm, running into the strange and lisp Stacey Dilson, who insisted upon stopping them and trying to horn in on being involved with their plans . She was a nice girl who was obsessed with building things out of cotton swabs and her one-sided love affair for Logan but she was the most annoying girl in their class at PCA.

" Zoey, Quinn," beamed Stacey , waving a hand in front of the girls," Lola, Lisa, hi . Coco said you girls were shopping and that sounds like so much fun..you have room for one more ? I would really love to go ….."

" Uh, sorry , we really don't have the room " answered an uncomfortable Zoey," bye ."

The girls ran out of the building leaving a disappointed Stacey standing alone in the hall .

" They always run away …strange "

********************************PCA*************** *********************

" So, could I talk to you guys about something ?" brought up a leery James, who was still troubled by the fact that Zoey wasn't talking to him or answering his texts .

Logan looked up from sending a text to Quinn. " Sure ….I don't care ."

Michael gave his roommate all of his attention ." What do you want to talk about ? Zoey still mad at you ?"

" I feel like she is avoiding me ," admitted James ," I know why you guys were..are freaking out over the whole Vince thing but I thought Zoey was overreacting about it ."

" Zoey always reacts " said Logan with a dismissive nod ," haven't you figured that out yet about her ? She reacts then Quinn and Lola get all pissed about it too and they get really feisty and outraged over things ..its pretty hot ."

" Logan isn't usually right but that's pretty much it " agreed Michael with a chuckle ," did you tell Zoey you thought she was overreacting ?"

" Yes and I might have said something about how you guys were her friends ," added James , hoping he wouldn't make them angry or insult them ," and not mine . No offense or anything , I didn't mean it in a bad way but she's been friends with you guys longer than we have been friends ."

Logan just shrugged ." That was really stupid "

Michael heaved a sigh and fixed the new guy with his pouty expression and puppy dog eyes .

" You don't think we're friends , man ? I know Logan and I acted all stupid and uncool , James, but I thought we were past that. I thought we were cool and all friends now …."

James winced and knew that Michael was the sensitive one . He should have known was one of the reasons he had been hesitant to talk to them about it.

" No, I mean, we are friends ," elaborated James , back-pedaling ," but Zoey took it the wrong way because I didn't say our friends or act mad on your guys behalf . Maybe I should try sending her more flowers with my apologies ..I don't know what to do . "

He glared at Logan. " Who are you texting ? Can you pretend to listen to me , Logan ?"

Logan closed his phone, fought back the urge to announce that he missed Quinn and she hadn't even left the campus yet, which was really unnerving . He never really cared enough about any of the girls he had dated before but everything was different with Quinn.

He thought about her all of the time and missed her like crazy when he wasn't with her .

" I'm not giving you money ," retorted Logan with a smirk ," Brooks will get over your mess up eventually . She never stays mad very long …do something cheesy . "

" Cheesy ?"

" Oh right , good call ," contributed Michael, " Chase did that silly stuff to make her laugh. You should do something cheesy ..like buy her a taco or bring her California rolls with a Italian accent or something . "

" Chase , of course ," said James , with a groan," I'm not Chase . You guys know that. Right ? I don't like me and Zoey not talking but I am not going to do whatever Chase did either ..thanks for the crappy advice, guys ."

He was frustrated, annoyed , and sick and tired of having everything come back to Chase Matthews . He and Zoey had never even dated yet he felt like he was competing with him for Zo's affection . Now the guys were telling him to act the the dude .

" I'm going to the lounge to study " James grabbed his backpack and departed , passing Vince Blake in the hall, and not giving it a thought .

" Well, now I'm insulted ! " Michael folded his arms over his chest ," I thought that was good advice . We know Zoey a little better than he does …..what with Chase being in love with her since day one and everything ."

" I kind of wish Chase would get back in the game ," admitted Logan of his friend ," no offense to James but him and Zoey just go together right , you know ."

" It's none of our business , Man," said Michael, who was on the fence about the whole situation ," Chase and Zoey agreed they could date other people ."

" She never told Chase about James . We had to do it ! " reminded Logan, his loyalty to Chase first and foremost .

" I admit that was wrong but we told Chase we would be cool about James "

" Chase is an idiot about Zoey ! "

Vince paused by the door, hesitating before he knocked . It might have been better to wait until Lola talked to her friends first but he didn't want it to seem like he was using her to do his dirty work for him. He was the one who beat the guys up and he would deal with them , on his own .

" Logan, Michael , hey "

" Vince Blake "

Logan glared at him and felt his muscles tense but wouldn't give the bully the satisfaction of seeing his apprehension . He could play it cool .

" What are you doing here ?"

Michael felt his legs go to jelly , shot Logan a fearful look, and flanked his side .

" We never invited you into our room , Vince "

Vince tried what he hoped was a contrite smile ." I'm not a vampire so that's good ," he joked then grew serious ," look, I thought maybe we could talk about things ."

" Michael and I have been working out like big time ," Logan flexed his muscles, showing off ," we know your idea of talking means kicking us in the gut and the kidneys so we're ready for you this time ."

" Right ! It's us against you this time or you gonna bring your moron clonies with you " managed a nervous Michael, trying not to quiver .

" I don't want to fight with you guys ," admitted Vince , sincerity in his voice," I came to apologize to you for what I did to you last year . I was wrong and fighting you guys ..beating you up like I did ..I 'm sorry . You were just helping out your friend and I shouldn't have jumped you like I did …."

Logan was suspicious ." Why should we forgive you ? You humiliated us ."

" The bruises and the pain was real bad ," told Michael ," you never felt our pain ."

" I know and I know it's hard to believe but I really regret everything I did last year ," Vince plunged ahead , bound and determined to prove he meant what he said ," it was wrong. You guys don't have anything to worry about from me . It'd be cool if you guys could give me a shot to prove to you that I'm not that same guy …."

" Why should we believe you ? Is this some new trick ? " demanded Michael , suspiciously ," you wheedled your way back to PCA but that doesn't prove anything to me and Logan. We know your sniffing around our friend Lola …"

" Not cool using a girl ! " added Logan , matter of fact ," Martinez is smarter than she gets credit for being so don't think you can win her over "

Vince lifted his hands in peace ." Because I have changed ," went on Vince ," I'm not the same guy who beat you up and I am only trying to fix all the wrongs that I did . If you wont accept my apology then I will have to accept that and hope in time you might ."

He paused to look at Logan. " I'm not using Lola , I wouldn't do that . I happen to think she is gorgeous and fascinating and I want to get to know her better unless your interested in her , Reese then I will back off ."

Logan's eyes widened in offense ." No ! Gross ! Lola isn't my type ! "

Michael nodded , furiously ." Don't you try sweet talking Lola or you will have to deal with us ! You should just back off of Lola , if you know what's good for you !"

Vince was baffled and starting to get a headache from getting no where in his apologies with these guys . Not that he thought it would be easy but they were hardheaded and stubborn and he felt like neither of them budged an inch on considering the apology .

He let out a breath and turned to Michael instead, hoping he was the more agreeable of the two men .

" So your into Lola ?"

He would be disappointed but he wouldn't go after another dudes girl either .

" No ! Man, no! Lola is my friend ! Lisa is my girlfriend ! Don't you be trying to ruin me and Lisa either , Blake ! "

" So neither of you are into Lola and you both hate my guts ," understood Vince, feeling considerably calm considering he got nowhere with them ," glad we could clear this up. I'll just leave you be and maybe we can try talking again during football practice …"

He turned to leave the dorm room as the news sunk in with the guys as they flopped down on the couch, feeling very worried now .

" He rejoined the football team , Michael " brought up Logan, making a face .

" I heard ! This sucks and we need to figure out how to protect Lola ," decided Michael, fretting for his lady friend ," I don't trust that guy ! "

" Me either ! We really need Quinn to make us something to use on that guy ! He really needs to feel the wrath of our comeuppance "

" Did you say wrath ?"

" What …I used it correctly ," defended Logan," I heard Quinn use it once ."

Michael didn't question it but sent out a rapid text to his girlfriend before he and Logan went online to order something manly for the revenge on Vince Blake .

*****************************PCA****************** *****************

Meanwhile twenty minutes away from PCA, the girls were shopping at the row of boutiques in town and as Lola watched Lisa twirl in a short purple dress with a red paisley print , she deliberated in bringing up her interest in Vince to her friends .Despite her front of hatred she had put up, she knew there was something about him that was real and that had gotten to her . Even if she hadn't admitted it to Vince yet but bringing it up to her best girlfriends was a tricky matter if there was one .

" The purple is you, Lisa, but I hate the red " decided Zoey, lifting a pair of gold dangling earrings against her ears and turning to get Quinn's yay or nay on the jewelry .

Lisa twirled in the dress and made a face ." The red makes me look washed out or is it just the print you hate ?"

Quinn as always was the referee when it came to helping make crucial fashion decisions which she found ironic since it was Zoey who was the fashion designer . However, Zoey seemed to be in a mood and was being much too quiet .

Something was up, that was true .

Quinn smiled ." I like the gold, Zoey and the paisley is really cool, Lisa ."

" You would , Quinn," Lola made a face and handed Lisa a bright blue dress instead," it's hideous , Lisa . It makes me want to puke and you don't want to make Michael puke when he sees you in a new dress ."

" Lola ! The dress isn't that bad " defended Quinn, sifting through a rack of dresses for something new for herself . She liked unique styles , unique yet feminine though red was Logan's favorite color and it might be interesting to see if she could get him to go all soft for her. She really liked the idea of that .

" Thanks, Quinn, but the puking has made me lose all intrest in this dress anyhow ," decided Lisa , " though knocking Mike speechless has some appeal but I don't think I can do that wearing this dress ."

" I would love to see Michael speechless myself " chuckle Zoey, glad to take her mind off of her troubles for a few hours ," he talks and talks all of the time and has in all of the years since I've known him, Lisa ."

" It's part of his charm, Zo," said Lisa , good naturally ," and another reason I love him . "

" You two are doing better since his jerk face incident ?" asked a curious Zoey , noticing Quinn holding up a red dress in front of her with all seriousness on her face .

" We are and I think it helped that I told him I felt like we were in a rut in our relationship," confessed Lisa , handing Lola a sparkly yellow top ," maybe he'll take the hint and try to spice us up a bit . I love him but I get so tired of eating sushi every date night ….though he was so sweet bringing me flowers ."

" James brought me roses " chimed in Zoey, joining the conversation," I think the guys had a conspiracy going , Lisa . Apology flowers all around …."

" Quinn and I never got flowers so that isn't true " protested Lola, nervously .

" Conspiracy or not, Zoey, it was nice to know that my boyfriend actually knew that purple is my favorite " Lisa ducked into the dressing room to change into a new dress .

Zoey eyed a strapless blue dress with intrest and played with the hanger , debating on how much to share with her friends . Keeping her worries in was making her a train wreck.

" My talk with Chase was awful ," blurted out Zoey in one breath," it was awkward and I felt like he hates me because I didn't tell him about James first ! Now James is being a jerk ! He accused me of overreacting over Vince Blake being back ! I did not overract ! "

Lisa stepped out of the dressing room, Lola sat down on the bench, and Quinn turned to focus on their distressed friend with worry in their eyes .

" You and Chase were awkward ? Wow , I never thought that was possible .." trailed Lisa , under her breath," is that why you've been so moody lately ?"

Zoey groaned, blonde hair falling forward . " I don't know , Lisa , but Chase is my best friend ," she admitted ," even when he dated Rebecca, it was never like this between us . He acted like he didn't want to talk to me ! "

She felt moisture in her eyes but vowed not to give in to her tears because it would be ridiculous .

" Maybe he is just still having a difficult time accepting you and James , Zoey," Quinn tried to be logical and gentle ," you mean the world to Chase . I can't imagine him ever not wanting to talk to you ….and who knows what the guys might have mentioned about you and James . They were angry at James before they really got to know him so you should factor in that too."

" I don't know, Quinn, but I don't like it ! Now James keeps throwing Chase in my face and he thinks I'm overreacting ! Am I ?"

The girls shared knowing looks and recognized that she was conflicted but where Chase was concerned , they were afraid Zoey would never figure out her own heart .

" I don't think so ," answered Quinn, thinking of Logan and a soft , dreamy smile crossing her lips ," I mean, those poor guys ! We all reacted pretty much the exact same way about Vince's return .. Maybe the problem is that James is jealous ."

Zoey 's eyes lit up at a cute pair of bright blue three inch heels , looked for a pair in her size, and then turned around to face the worried expressions on the girls faces .

She felt like crying ! She always prided herself on keeping it together and she had never cried over a guy before and Zoey was afraid to go down that road .

She was afraid if she allowed the tears to come, the crying wouldn't stop .

Zoey was much stronger than that .

" Why would James be jealous ? That is crazy and ridiculous , Quinn "

" I actually think Quinn has a point ," Lisa was reluctant to put in her two cents but then thought she owed it to Zoey to be honest ," I am sure that James has heard everything about Chase . If not from the gossips around PCA then Lord knows what Michael and Logan have told him and I would imagine it has to hit his ego a little bit ."

" Chase and I aren't together though, Lisa ," insisted Zoey, dropping down on a bench, kicking off her shoes and trying on the blue heel ," and I thought he was mature about the situation. I did tell him about everything when James and I got together ….."

" Are we talking about you and Chase or you and James ?" cut in a puzzled Lola, slipping the yellow top , hanger and all, over her neck so she could decide if she liked the color against her skin. She liked yellow but this was almost a lemon shade .

" Me and James ! " growled Zoey, frustration seeping in her voice ," I don't know , maybe he is right and I am overreacting . I guess I shouldn't expect James to be outraged like the rest of us …he wasn't here last year ."

" True ," Quinn tried to be fair ," and guys don't handle loyalty the same way as us girls do either . We just naturally have roommate and best friend loyalty to each other but I suppose that perhaps James doesn't feel as close or share the same bond as Logan, Michael, and Chase have , Zoey."

Zoey sighed , feeling horrible ." Dang it , Quinn, you have a point ! "

" I know ," smiled Quinn, holding up a pink dress with cap sleeves and a funky small red print pattern on the skirt and the sleeves," your welcome . You might take that boy out of his misery and answer one of his messages ."

Zoey took out her phone and sent an 'I'm sorry ' out to her boyfriend . " I guess we'll see if James and I can make it through our first fight as a couple ."

" James is a nice guy ," smiled the always cheerful Lisa ," I am sure the both of you will be as good as new , Zoey . Like me and Michael …"

" You and Michael are one of the steadiest couples at PCA, Lisa ," replied Lola , amazed ," I don't know how you guys do it and not , you know, flirt with other people ."

Lisa beamed ." Mike and I love each other , Lola . You just haven't found that special someone yet …"

Lola bit her lip and knew that Lisa had just given her the opening she needed to open up about her own feelings for a guy but she was a little bit on the side of chicken .

" About that special guy, I might like someone ..new " hedged an uncertain Lola , who had been thinking non-stop about her talk with Vince and the funny feeling in her chest that she got from being around him. She tried to hate him but it was using up most of her energy and she hated that more than she hated that really cute guy .

She was afraid that her friends would be mad at her over Vince ..they had been annoyed over her and Lafe but that had been more about him getting them lost on their way to Red Stone Gulch rather than her flirting with the senior .

Lisa shook her head at the top and handed her a satiny turquoise blouse instead with an encouraging smile , urging the actress to confide in them about her latest hunk .

" Dallas Camben finally got your attention , Lola ?" guessed Lisa of the popular Senior who shared yoga and an art class with both of the girls . Lisa knew half of the male population was interested in Lola but she had gotten pickier in choosing the lucky guy here lately . None of the guys seemed to impress her enough to make her want to date one exclusively or move past date number two .

The girl could be fickle about love but she wasn't a flake .

" His arm farting in class grossed me out so no, not that wazbag " corrected Lola , glancing at Quinn who seemed to be studying that nearby rack of colorful dresses as if it was one of her inventions ," someone new to PCA. Not really new , I guess, but he's changed s wouldn't that still qualify him as the new guy ?"

Lisa crossed her legs and fixed the brunette with a intrigued look , wanting to know more and wondering when Lola did the whole beat around the bush thing .

Something was up with Lola and it had to do with a guy.

This was exciting !

" Is there a new guy on campus ?" questioned Lisa , " because the only person I can think of that is new is ….Oh my God ! You can't mean Vince Blake ..Lola , am I wrong ?"

Lola glanced at Zoey but she seemed to be talking to Quinn, which made Lisa the only one who had heard her half-confession . Her roommates needed to know too but Lisa was really open-minded so maybe it couldn't hurt to just get her opinion first .

Lola grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the nearby dressing room , closing the door behind them .

" You can't tell Zoey and Quinn yet ! I don't know if there is stuff to tell yet but I talked to Vince and I think I like him ! "

" Wow , Lola," replied an equally surprised Lisa ," when did you talk to him ?"

" The other day ," answered a nervous Lola, biting her lip ," Vince explained about the therapy he had to take and he really regrets what he did last year . He isn't the cocky skunk bag he was before and if he asks me out again, I want to say yes ."

Lisa considered this , thoughtfully ." It isn't impossible for people to change . Michael probably will go nuts when you tell him, Lola , but if you like Vince then I don't see how a date is a bad thing . You really need to tell Quinn and Zoey though …they need to know ."

" I know ," sighed Lola ," but now I'm thinking it might be easier to tell them after I agree to a date with Vince so that I have actual facts to tell them ."

" That couldn't hurt " agreed Lisa with a smile ," and I like the sparkles on that top ."

" So do I but I don't know if the yellow is right ," Lola pushed her hair off of her shoulders," would you hold off telling Michael and the girls about me and Vince ? Not that there is a me and Vince at this moment but there is a possibility of an us , Lisa ."

" Fine but you have to tell them , Lola " insisted Lisa , firmly ," I can help with Michael but the girls willl be hurt if you wait and they find out through the rumor mill …."

" I know , I know …" trailed Lola, her decision made now . If and when Vince asked her out , she was going and would see what was between them .

Meanwhile Quinn was studying the pink dress as if her life depended on it, loving the tiny red flowers on the cap sleeves and the simple straight skirt and the uniqueness of the design. It was a dress for a special occasion and not a regular school day .

She would love to wear it for Logan but then how would she explain to her friends why she was all dressed up ? There were downfalls to being secretive .

" It's a dress, Quinn, not nuclear physics or anything ," teased Zoey ," it looks like you."

" It is really pretty but dressy , Zoey ," muttered Quinn, " I mean, I love it but its not like I have anyone …or anything to wear it for " she hated the lying but she could hardly tell her about her new relationship with Logan ," not to mention the price ."

" Well , the dress screams Quinn so I think you should buy it ," informed Zoey in a matter of fact tone that brooked no argument ," who cares about a guy ? Buy the dress, wear it for you, and maybe a new guy will see you and sweep you off your feet …."

Quinn blushed at how true her friend's statement really actually was ." Zoey "

" It could happen , Quinn," sang out Zoey with a warm smile ," there are more guys at PCA than Mark Del Figgalo "

" I'm buying the dress ! " announced Quinn , more to herself than to Zoey .

Hell with it , she would find a reason to wear it and knock Logan off of his feet !

" I think we should get pedicures now " announced Lola as she and Lisa rejoined them .

The girls day out was in full swing and filled with trying on and buying new clothes , giggling and carrying on like the females they were , and just getting away from the guys and the drama that seemed to follow them around Pacific Coast Academy and much needed break .

************************************PCA*********** *******************

While Michael went off to find James for a game of basketball in the gym, Logan made the weekly call home to touch base with his father before Malcolm Reese left for New Zealand to direct his latest movie and update him on the latest going on in his life .

Since the guys were out of their room, Logan made a fact to mention that he was dating someone special to his father .

Quinn was important to him and even though he didn't name her to his Dad , it felt really good to be able to admit he was in a real relationship for a change .

His Dad made happy noises but Logan figured that was more just for the sake of wife number 8 than for him . His newest step-mom had been trying to get to know him better and insisted that Malcolm take more of an intrest in his sons life rather than just shelling out his monthly allowance to him .

Logan wasn't sure how he felt about Julia but at least she was nice to him and not a bimbo like the other 7 had been .

After the call ended , Logan decided to scope out the grounds of PCA to find more meeting spots for him and Quinn to get away too. It would be cool if they had more than one spot to hide away at and their bench wasn't all that private .

It was still early evening and the campus was still pretty busy as students hung out together on the quad listening to the latest tunes or made out near the fountains , Logan cut across the quad , wishing that Quinn was back so he could talk to her about the whole Vince thing . He didn't think the dude could change that fast and he didn't like the fact that he accused him of being into Lola !

He didn't want Quinn to get the wrong idea out of nothing !

Maybe at one time the idea of making out with Lola would have appealed to him but that was a long time ago. The only girl he had eyes for these days was Quinn Pensky .

" Reese, my man ! "

" Oh hey Emerson " greeted Logan, stepping back from the tall, hockey player whose broad shoulders and inky black hair had made him his competition for the ladies at PCA since the ninth grade but they had always been cool ," what's up?"

" Just getting ready to meet Mandy ," chuckled Bart of the lovely and quite easy Mindy Franklin otherwise known as Make -out Mandy around the campus ," I thought you could help me out with something …."

" You cant borrow my car, dude "

" I didn't want your car but I wouldn't be so quick to tell me no " said Bart, crossing his arms over his chest ," I bet you wouldn't want me to be telling people that Logan Reese is tapping the science nerd . Not that I can blame you, I never knew Pensky had a body till Del Figgalo dumped her and she dressed like a slut but you got to her first "

Panic rose in Logan's chest when he realized that somehow he and Quinn had been spotted but worse was the boiling anger than bubbled up in his chest at the insults .

" I'm not ! Don't call Quinn that because she isn't one ! " warned Logan, his tone menacing ," we're not ..I'm not sleeping with her ! "

God, this was bad ! Quinn would be devastated if this crap got around PCA !

He had to do something to stop it ! If Emerson told these lies about Quinn in the locker room , it would be hell for Quinn's reputation .

Logan gripped the hockey players shirt and glared furiously at him .

" What do you want from me ? What's it going to take for you to keep your mouth shut about me and Quinn ? "

Bart's smile barely touched his lips ." A hundred bucks is a good start , Reese "

Logan dropped him, pulled out his wallet and handed him a hundred dollar bill , shoving it in his hand .

" Here ! If I find out you so much as ran your mouth lying about Quinn, I will kill you with my bare hands , Emerson " threatened Logan , meaning every word of it .

He was used to the rumors and the bad press about his image but he wouldn't have Quinn tarnished . She was too good and she mattered too much for him to let that happen .

" Pensky must be good " chuckled Bart, amused by the threat ," but this is small change , Reese . I'll keep my mouth shut for now but this isn't over ….you might think about dropping out of the football team ."

" I'm not dropping out , dude , so forget it ! Blackmail me all you want, I don't care, just don't let me hear you spreading lies about Quinn or I will destroy you so fast you wont know what hit you "

" Your secret is safe for now " chuckled Bart , amiably ," I'll let you know what else I need to keep my mouth shut about you and the science slut "

" Don't call her that " warned Logan, his jaw pulsing angrily but the hockey player walked away , leaving him alone to contemplate what he should do next and debating on whether he should tell Quinn they were no longer a secret .

He was more worried about her feelings and her reputation than his own .

He could handle this on his own and he wouldn't miss the cash if it meant protecting Quinn.

Logan wanted to protect Quinn more than anything and he would .

He was Logan Reese and he wouldn't let blackmail interfere with his being together with Quinn .


	11. Chapter 11

It was a dismal, rainy day in England with dark clouds overhead followed by the sheets of rain and occasional crack of lightening which kept most of the students of Covington inside for the afternoon , which suited Chase's mood just fine .

With most of their classes out of the way , the teenagers congregated in the common room which Chase figured was just a fancy way of calling it a lounge except it was more out of Harry Potter than PCA with the fire crackling in the fireplace plus the lack of brightly colored walls and a Blix machine .

Blue walls , several fancy couches and a table added to the ambiance of the common where they could still hang out, watch TV, and drink hot tea .

He was developing a taste for the stuff and someone had mentioned a crumpet earlier which had made Chase think of Lola and her awesome British accent she had mastered for PCA's production of A Crumpet Among Us and had set him off in peals of laughter .

He fired up his laptop, hoping he could catch one of his friends today and talk .

Chase was really missing everything today .

Home , PCA, and more importantly , his friends .

Teddy and Vivian, who were the steadiest couple at this school and the most popular, had found a corner of the room to make out in , oblivious to all of the others and reminding him of Michael and Lisa .

He really hoped Lisa kept Michael from doing something that would get him in trouble .

The Breakfast Club was the movie of the hour playing on the big screened television and the soundtrack to his newly angst filled life or it felt like that anyway since he had found out about Zoey . His little white lie to her hadn't helped his nerves either .

He was a bad person . Why had he lied to her ?

Right he was still angry about her moving onto a new guy and because he still loved her.

Hannah wadded up a magazine page , smiled slightly at him, and tossed it at his wild hair .

" Gah ! Who did that ?" Chase waved his hands around as if he was swatting some of Quinn's killer bees and not a piece of paper then caught the teasing grin on Hannah's face," really , Hannah ? "

Hannah 's hoops dangled in her ears as she slid off the arm of the couch and scooted closer to her friend, hoping he would catch a clue that she liked him .

His clumsiness was adorable and he had to be the nicest guy she had ever met .

" I thought I was going to have to call Mars ," joked Hannah , nudging him with her elbow ," come on, you still cant be down about your fib to Zoey. You do not owe that girl anything and I wish you would stop moping about over her ! "

Chase let out a resigned sigh," I'm not moping ! "

She shot him a withering look that had his ears turning red ." Fine then you are being a bloody idiot , Chase ! A flumping one at that ! "

He winced at hearing Hannah utter one of Michael's ridiculous new slang words and shook his hair ." We really shouldn't try to make flumpy a thing over here either ," told Chase , matter of fact ," its not cool in America or England . I thought we'd already been over this …."

" I happen to find it quite funny " told Hannah , " don't be grumpy, Chase , and please talk to me . I enjoy your funny , silly stories of your friends back at your home and you make me laugh …."

" Michael would love that you are amused by his stupid word " said Chase , taking a moment to really lean forward and study Hannah .

She really was striking with the red hair , the kindness behind her green eyes, and the smattering of freckles across her nose and realized that he might be into her .

It was unnerving especially in the way as he hadn't really found other girls attractive in the same way as Zoey .

Gretchen didn't count because he was using her as his Zoey substitute until Michael and Logan's intervention had knocked his brains and senses back into his head .

He needed to move on like Zoey obviously had no problem with doing .

Boy, he was feeling the bitterness today big time.

" Have I told you about Michael ?"

Hannah placed a tentative hand on his leg and sent him a warm smile .

" Your best friend and roommate since the sixth grade ..you might have mentioned Michael a time or a hundred "

Colin, bored with the going ons in the common, and intrigued by the flirtatious tone that Hannah was directing at his roommate, set his jaw and looked up from his perusal of Splashface to growl at the American to join in their conversation.

Hannah never smiled at him like that and he had known her since forever !

Stupid bushy haired nit !

" He laughs like a hyena and that Logan person annoys me "

Chase was getting good at ignoring his roommate's constant dislike of him . He roomed with Logan Reese for years so he could take any kinds of crap that the Brit could throw at him and not be offended . After all under all of Logan's ego and money , he was a good guy ( he would die before admitting that ) and his friend so he had hopes that under Colin's grouchiness and bitterness was a decent dude .

He hoped so , anyway , or else he was way off about people .

" You annoy me, Colin "

" Boys , shut up ," intervened Hannah, giving them both looks that had them thinking twice about arguing with her ," will you close those stupid laptops and watch the movie with me , please ! "

" You've seen this movie a hundred times, Hannah, and frankly , I don't understand the appeal " remarked Colin, but there was no bite to his words , just teasing .

" In a minute …oh wait, I got a text coming in " Chase held up his phone, excitedly then flipped it open ," cool, Quinn has time to chat with me ."

" Can I say hi ?" asked Hannah, leaning close to him and not noticing the angry expression that crossed Colin's face or the oblivious one on Chase's face .

" Watch Judd Nelson be a jerk ," said Chase , moving himself and the computer into a corner , hoping to cut down on the noise in the room," I'm going to talk to Quinn really fast then I promise I will join you ."

Colin made a strangled noise and moved closer to Hannah, in attempts that she might actually notice he exist beyond the friends mode she seemed to put him into.

It had taken him a bloody year to get Hannah to tease him !

Now Chase was trying to ruin everything and he didn't like it one bit .

*******************************PCA**************** ******************

Chase ignored their ramblings waiting for Quinn's pretty face to appear on his screen .

He didn't have to wait long before her face filled his screen, her brown eyes sharp behind her wire framed glasses , and her long brown curls brushing her shoulder .

" Hello Chase "

Quinn glanced furtively around the dorm room, glancing at the door as if expecting Zoey or Lola to burst in on her any minute now though she knew both were busy this afternoon .She settled on the computer chair and relaxed , comfortable now .

She turned her attention back on her friend. " Sorry , Chase ," apologized Quinn," I didn't know what you wanted to talk about and Zoey should be gone for a little while . She has a meeting with Mr. Bender about plans for the Harvest festival so it should be safe…if you wanted to talk about Zoey ."

" It's good to see you, Quinn," smiled Chase , meaning it ," it's raining and storming like mad over here so we're all hanging out in the ..common lounge ."

Leave it to the scientist to bring up the one person he didn't want to talk about today.

The scientist smiled brightly at him. " I had a free period so your timing was impeccable ."

" I heard about what happened with you and Del Figgalo ," started Chase , feeling like he needed to say something to be a good friend ," sorry about that but you know, it's for the best . It's weird but ..good about you and Logan though …I mean, it is good ."

Quinn paled , color draining from her face, as her brown eyes widened in shock .

No one was supposed to know about her and Logan ! They were supposed to be a secret .

She shook her head, vigorously, as she tried to figure out why Chase would say something like that …he was in England, for goodness sake !

How could he even be suspicious of them ?

" W…what are you talking about , Chase ," demanded a panicky Quinn, reaching for her phone as her temper started to rise ," me and Logan ..haha ..that's funny. I don't like Logan ..we cant stand each other and why would you ask me that ? "

She chewed on her bottom lip, nervously . " That's crazy and absurd, Chase …..wait , how do you know ? "

Chase made a face and was glad he wasn't back home for Quinn to retaliate with something exploding . Quinn was a sweet girl but it was never good to get on her bad side .

" Quinn, don't freak out ," Chase grew serious , wanting her to understand ," your secret is still safe . I swear I haven't told anyone …..and don't be mad at Logan ! "

" Logan told you about our relationship ? " Quinn crossed her arms over her chest , temper starting to flare along with the jab of hurt .

She had actually trusted and started to believe that Logan was taking their relationship seriously.

Yet he had told Chase about them dating behind her back. She had believed Logan was being honest with her but …apparently he didn't think this was important enough for her to know .

How could she trust him ?

Chase saw the hurt , cursed himself for just handling things badly, and tried to fix them before he screwed up his friends relationship in the process .

" Quinn, don't kill Logan or be mad at him ," explained Chase ," he needed to talk after you guys kissed so he called me . Logan really likes you, Quinn ."

Quinn bit her bottom lip, apprehensively . " Logan told you about that ?"

She scooted closer to the screen as if the proximity to it would make Chase tell her the truth . Not that she thought her friend was lying because he had always been honest but it unsettled her that Logan had talked to him about their relationship.

They hadn't wanted their friends to know for a reason so what did this mean ?

Chase nodded , empathetically ." Logan isn't the conceited jerk he used to be, Quinn," amended Chase , trying to fix his mistake ," well, not all of the time anyways . How do you feel about Logan ?"

Quinn was taken a back, momentarily ." We've only been dating for a little while, Chase, and I just got out of a two year relationship ," says a practical Quinn, the image of Logan's coppery curls and sexy smile making her blush and just thinking about the tenderness when he held her in his arms making her go weak ," I'm trying not to dive headlong into us ..I mean, my relationship with Logan ."

" Can I give you a little advice , Quinn ?"

She frowned at him, not understanding ." What kind of advice ?"

" Stop thinking ," stated Chase , flatly ," thinking with your brain isn't good with love. Every mistake I made with Zoey was because I thought too much about it instead of just feeling and following my heart . So how do you feel about Logan ?"

He watched the wariness disappear from her as a softness reappeared in her brown eyes, her smile shining in a way he had never seen before in all of the years he had known her , not even when Quinn had proclaimed she loved Del Figgalo .

Chase had a sneaky suspicion that Quinn and Logan were more involved with each other than just the dating .

It was weird but in a good , new way and he hoped they made it .

" Logan is much more complex than I ever knew "

" You like him " realized Chase as she tried to hide the color rising to her cheeks .

Quinn regained her composure and decided now was the perfect opportunity to bring up the tenuous Zoey situation that suddenly had seemed to have risen between them all.

He was being nice and supportive of her and Logan so she needed to do the same for him.

No matter how uncomfortable it made her , she wasn't betraying Zoey and Chase was her friend as much as Zoey was as well .

" Yes , I do ," Quinn was all business now , " now putting aside the secrecy of my relationship with Logan, how are you ? I heard how difficult your conversation with Zoey was and she is just a mess about it, Chase ."

Chase sat up, ignoring the din of noise from the chess playing nerds in the corner and focused on Quinn. She really was too brilliant sometimes .

So much for ignoring and forgetting Zoey.. Maybe he should have called Michael instead and they could have talked about anything but the girl he loved ..

" Zoey said our talk was a mess ? " Chase laughed, nervously as he dragged a hand through his hair ," it was awkward, Quinn. That is what a mess our discussion was and her heartfelt apology over her falling in love with the new guy just wounded me . "

He folded his arms over his chest ." I know I agreed we should be mature about the date other people thing but I never thought she would move onto a new guy so soon after telling me she loved me ! "

Hannah turned her eyes on him, concerned ." Why are you yelling ?"

It was terribly difficult to listen in when she was all the way over here but she didn't want Chase to think she was rude either .

" Still talking to Quinn so just watch the movie " answered a frustrated Chase , turning back to the screen ," and sorry, I don't mean to yell at you , Quinn. It's just much harder than I thought it would be and I guess I still hurt …I'll get over her eventually ."

Her face scrunched up in sympathy and she sent him a warm smile ." I don't think that Zoey expected to have feelings so soon for James but it happened, Chase . You know that you still mean everything to her … this is a fact ."

" He takes good care of her ?" asked Chase ," not that Zo ever needs taking care of in the first place but you know what I mean .."

" He is good to her, yes , but Chase, I really think you and Zoey should clear the air " suggested Qunn, thinking of her friends meltdown earlier," I think it might help."

."

" Once I can figure out how to breathe again and not be in love with her, I'll do that, Quinn "

" Good "

There was a knock on the door then Logan swept in, handsome in red and white cargo shorts and a red muscle shirt showing off his physique , backpack loose over a shoulder as he zeroed in on his girlfriend as he shut the door, ducked his head to drop a short but gentle kiss on her lips then grinned at Chase .

" Hey"

" Logan , what are you doing here ? Anyone could have seen you or us !" hissed Quinn, slightly irritated but smiling at him as he slid a hand around her waist .

" I was careful ," answered Logan, unphased ," I got your text saying you were talking to Chase ….. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for us to be alone . "

" Chase knows about us " She tried to glower at him but couldn't when his nearness reduced her to a puddle of goo so she managed an accusatory look instead .

" I had to tell her, man ," explained a sheepish Chase ," sorry but I'm on your side . Not to mention that you kissing her in front of me might have tipped her off that I know about you guys being together , man."

Logan ignored his friend, frowned , and hoped that his girlfriend wasn't too pissed off .He really hadn't thought everything through when he got the text , he had just wanted to spend some alone time with Quinn.

" I probably should have told you, babe, but I was processing you and me at the time . I knew Chase wouldn't give me crap about us and he is happy we're dating ! I didn't think it was bad but I should have known that he couldn't resist being a pain ….thanks a lot, Chase ."

She twined their fingers together ." I'm not angry at you, Logan . "

" You aren't ?" asked a flabbergasted Logan, who had expected her to be pissed off at him . He should have known that Chase wouldn't be able to resist teasing her .

" No , I'm not ," says Quinn, realizing it was true ," it is actually sort of sweet ."

They shared a smile, their connection and awareness heightened between them as they relaxed in the warmth of the quiet room , alone , together . It was easy to forget that Chase was on the webcam when they could hardly tear their eyes away from each other .

Logan nuzzled the curls against her cheek and Quinn couldn't resist leaning in for the softest of kisses as her heart tumbled a bit in her chest .

Chase heaved a painful sigh, bit back a sarcastic remark , and judging by what he was seeing with his own two eyes, knew that Quinn and Logan's relationship was so much more than just simple dating .

If he didn't know any better, he would think that Logan was already close to falling in love with Quinn and didn't even know it yet .

Or he did and was happy about it but it was getting a bit much watching them kiss .

He coughed , loudly ." Yeah, your secret is safe with me but that doesn't mean I want to see you guys make out ," joked Chase , earning him a scowl from Logan and more blushing from Quinn," thanks . Look , my friends are going to kill me if I don't get off of her e and join them in this crazy 80's movie marathon happening over here ."

" You'll talk with Zoey ? " asked Quinn, relaxing in Logan's embrace .

" Zoey shouldn't worry about me ," dismissed Chase , trying to act more casual than he felt ," sorry I made her feel bad but she knows I can be a moron sometimes . I'm not going to stop being her friend over this stupid situation but she will just have to deal with the awkward until I move past her , Quinn."

" Not unless she and James break up first ," offered Logan , as Quinn smacked him ," what ? You never told him they were fighting ? Cause dude , they totally got into it …."

" Zoey apologized , Logan, and they are fine ," interjected Quinn, rolling her eyes upwards at him," don't give Chase false hope . That isn't right ! "

" He should fight for Zoey is all I'm saying , Quinn " argued Logan , passionately .

" He is still right here , you guys ," Chase peered into the screen ," and I think its better if I just move on once and for all . It will be easier on all of us ….. And there is this girl here that is pretty cool and pretty . I'm going to start the process by asking her out that way Zoey has someone and I have someone …"

" I don't know if that is such a good idea ," says a leery Quinn, " if you and Zoey just talked about things , I really think it would help the situation ."

" He should keep fighting for her ! Real men fight for the women they love ! "

Quinn stopped her rant, a dreamy expression crossing her face at the passionate tone in his voice and the intense way that he stared at her that had her shivering all over . She hadn't ever felt even a fourth of what she was feeling now when she had been with Mark .

Would he ever fight for her ? She was an independent woman and as fanciful as it was it touched something within her that Logan would care that much about her and his jealousy was extremely attractive in ways she never even considered before . Mark never exhibited the slightest bit of jealousy , not that she ever had guys dying to date her in the first place , but it was nice that Logan cared enough to get jealous .

It was old-fashioned and barbaric but she couldn't help but think how romantic the sentiment was and be moved by it nonetheless. Quinn thought that he would and couldn't help but to think about all of the different sides of Logan that she was seeing and wondered if they had always been there or if he was just real with only her .

" It's a difficult situation, Logan, and I think we should do our best to be supportive with the choices that Chase and Zoey have made ," says a practical Quinn," no matter how tricky it may be …regardless of whether we agree or disagree with them. It's actually none of our business ….."

" We're all friends, Quinn," Logan let go of her," of course its our business ! "

" Hey ," cut in Chase , not in the mood for their fighting over him," stop it ! Logan, I tried to fight for her and I did the grand romantic gesture by transferring over here but that didn't work out. I'll get over her eventually …you two be good to each other ."

" Chase ! " called an annoyed Hannah ,over her shoulder," its been 10 minutes ! "

" Later , guys , and tell Lola I want to be kept in the loop about all the gossip I'm missing out around there " With one last request , Chase signed out, shut down his laptop, and settled between Colin and Hannah ," ah fighting in the library . I haven't missed much ….is there popcorn ?"

Colin scowled at him. " No, there isn't popcorn ."

Hannah moved closer, slipping a hand through his arm and beaming at him . " More trouble on the PCA home front ?"

" No," declared Chase , aware of their arms brushing and her move . He wasn't so out of the loop that he couldn't recognize when a girl was flirting with him and Hannah was being pretty flirtatious this afternoon," this movie would be much better with popcorn and some Blix . Where would I go and who do I talk to about getting those put in around Covington ?"

" Take charge Chase ," muttered Hannah , " I really like the sound of that ."

" That's me Chase the leader " He didn't know if he was being serious or sarcastic .

**********************************PCA************* *********************

Logan walked across the room, flipping the lock to secure that he and Quinn had some privacy and didn't want to take the chance of anyone of her roommates interrupting them.

Quinn had shut down her computer and moved to the couch, arms folded across her chest , and an expression that he couldn't quite read on her face .

He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was even in her quirky outfits that he used to think were weird but now he realized it was just her style . Today she was dressed in a pair of jeans, an off the shoulder mint green shirt with some lacy top over it , brown hair soft and brushing her shoulders , and an array of colorful bracelets on her wrists and her ever present zap watch..

" Quinn, I thought you weren't mad at me " Logan moved beside her , flashing her an irrestible smile and tracing patterns across her hand , softly ," I talked to Chase before we talked about us . You know that he wont tell anyone . "

" You could have told me ," murmured Quinn, quietly ," Chase scared me when he started talking about us being together . Do you like to give me heart attacks ?"

Logan put an arm around her shoulders, gazing into her eyes and seeing more than he ever imagined that he wanted . He resisted the urge to run screaming across the campus , deny the rapid thundering of his heart, and go back to dating brainless bimbos but knew that he was done with all of that .

It had been only three weeks since they had gotten together and he knew he only wanted Quinn .

I'm sorry "

" Logan, did you just apologize to me ?" says an surprised Quinn, touched as he rarely ever admitted he was wrong , let alone apologizing , even to his friends ," You did ."

" Quinn, don't make a big deal out of it ," Logan tried to blow it off ," I said I was sorry and I mean it but ..let's not talk about it anymore . I want to kiss you …"

" Kissing doesn't get you out of everything , Logan "

" You love it when I kiss you, Quinn," Logan nibbled kisses along her jaw," you know you cant resist me . Come on, babe, I skipped class so I could be with you ."

" Logan, you cant keep skipping classes like this " protested an outraged Quinn, between kisses ," I know you are much more than an average student . I believe in you ."

He lifted his face from hers, something twisting in his gut and caught a curl around his finger .

" You believe in me ?"

Quinn took his face in hers , kissing him, tenderly ." Yes, Logan, I do "

" Maybe you can tutor me or we can tell everyone your tutoring me " declared Logan, gathering her in his arms and kissing her with every once of feeling for her in his veins," might help us with the sneaking around ." .

" That is a good idea , Logan ," Quinn wound her arms around him," smart too ."

He grinned sexily right back at her ." Extremely good looking and smart "

Quinn giggled with happiness and lost herself in this moment in his arms , her heart twisting ,falling , and spinning around and she was helpless to do anything to stop it ...

*******************************PCA**************** ******************

Outside the campus was a flurry of activity , students rushing across the crowded quad en route to classes or meetings or being lured into a game of Frisbee or the half -priced smoothies on sale at the coffee carts as a late afternoon sale and attracting most of the student body . There was a tiny nip in the air, suggesting that fall was in coming and a reminder that football and the festival would be here before they knew it .

Zoey knew this better than anyone since she had gotten chosen to lead the committee for the fall festival and thinking maybe this time she was taking on more than she could handle . Which wasn't normal thinking for her .

She was Zoey Brooks , she took charge and fixed things .

It was what she did .

She took a sip of her apple berry Blix and began taking notes on possible activities .

" Is apple bobbing too Halloweeny ? " asked Zoey as Michael and Lisa joined her a their usual table ," the lower class students might like it but its lame . Is it lame ?"

" It is lame " agreed Michael, taking a bite of his hamburger ," Harvest festival planning , Zoey ? A dance would be cool …..we all like dancing ."

Zoey took a note ." I think I can safely put together a dance ," smiled a relieved Zoey," you guys did say you would help me , please ."

Lisa laughed ," Michael and I will be glad to help with anything ."

" I think the clubs are going to set up booths and sell stuff ," said a thoughtful Zoey," that's always fun. I haven't talked to anyone yet but I have a big list of who's in charge of what that I need to talk to….was hoping I could get some help with it ."

Michael put an arm around his girlfriends shoulder ." My Lisa is good with people , Zo. She'd be a lot nicer than Quinn chasing after folks screaming at them to sign up …and I mean that in the nicest way . You know I love Quinn….."

Zoey smiled , recalling Quinn's approach to getting petition signers when their dorm advisor had gotten fired briefly .

" We all love Quinn , Michael, and I'm actually hoping to distract her by getting her to talk to Firewire and the science club about their booth ," went on Zoey with a sheepish smile," she intimidates the nerds with her genius . I think it'd help her right now .."

" I didn't think Quinn was doing so bad " brought up Lisa, conversationally ," she didn't really talk much about Mark the other night when we were shopping . I thought she seemed pretty happy actually …"

Zoey put down her pen, contemplative ." Quinn seems back to her normal self but I just feel like there's something else bugging her , you know ?"

Lisa took a drink of her Blix and caught what Zoey was trying to say. " You think there's another guy and Quinn's not talking "

" Maybe but I don't know ," hedged an uncertain Zoey," Quinn bought two new dresses, Lisa . I cant help but think there's a guy but I haven't seen her really looking or talking to anyone new …"

" What about Firewire ? I heard he wanted to date Quinn after Del Figgalo broke up with her ?" suggested Michael, munching on his French fries and wanting to be a part of their girl talk.

Zoey and Lisa looked at him as if he suddenly grown two heads and turned into something freaky like a zombie .

" Quinn would never date Firewire " insisted Zoey, matter of fact ," I cant believe you even suggested that, Michael ."

Michael shrugged, nonchalant ." Well, I don't know who would be into Quinn."

Lisa leaned into him , nudging his arm , playfully ." I thought you and Lola were up on all of this stuff , Michael . Don't you have a better guess ?"

" Someone super smart " deadpanned Mike , kissing her , lightly .

He really needed to figure out how to approach this whole romantic being together thing without flubbing it up though he supposed renting some of those chic flicks might be helpful for information . Lisa loved all of them and he'd even sat through Pearl Harbor with her twice and he still didn't find out how the woman loving two dudes during the war was romantic . She would hang him by his toenails if he cheated on her .

So it was either talk to Zoey or maybe Lola to get the girls point of view ( they hadn't steered him wrong with the apology flowers ) and worse case scenario, talk to Logan.

His friend could be a jerk but he did know women, sort of .

" That's helpful, Michael " smirked Zoey, with a sigh," so how is the comeuppance coming along ? You and Logan have a real plan yet ?"

" Don't encourage him, Zoey " said Lisa, making a face at her friend ," he doesn't need anymore detention ."

" It was only a few times ," defended Michael ," Logan and I were bored ."

" Hall hockey and golf cart joyrides …" reminded Lisa , stealing a French fry after a moments hesitation. She had been considering the vegan lifestyle but wasn't sure if it was for her or not and it wouldn't help that her boyfriend enjoyed his meat and potatoes .It might make her really tempted to eat what he was having .

" Bored and fun ," answered Michael then turned back to Zoey," Logan and I are working on something but we've got to put it together first ."

" Michael ! "

" Zoey "

" Dustin, hey " Michael greeted Zoey's younger brother with a grateful smile having saved him from a possible lecture from Lisa about revenge and detention .

" Hi guys " Dustin was fourteen and had the same blonde hair as his sisters only cut in a shaggy style, dressed in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt ," Zoey, can I borrow some money ? Logan didn't need me to do anything for him and I'm a little short this week ."

From time to time, Dustin worked for Logan doing whatever the rich jerk didn't want to do himself , which could be anything from laundry to lugging things but he'd given him five bucks last week to stay out of his way .

It was weird but then so was Logan so Dustin didn't think too much about it .

Michael leaned back in his chair , baffled by this statement ." Logan just gave you money for no reason ? Something is up with him….Logan is acting weird lately ."

" What did you spend all of your money on ? " asked Zoey, going into big sister mode , her expression bordering on affectionate and dubious . She loved her little brother but he didn't have the best budgeting habits or the healthiest .

" A case of Bing Bongs " answered Dustin with a shrug ," then I used the five I got from Logan to buy a Blix for me and Jessica "

" I can give you ten dollars but spend it wisely ," cautioned Zoey, doing her best not to mom him as Chase had once accused her of doing and embarrassing her younger brother ," you know , maybe buy some actual food to go with the Bing Bongs ."

Dustin grinned , accepting her money ." Yeah, thanks ," said the younger boy, pocketing the money ," so, are you planning cool stuff for the festival ? Walking for cake might be fun …..I bet kids would pay a buck or two to try to win cake .."

Michael's eyes lit up at the idea making him nod his head, vigorously .

" Can't go wrong with cake walk ," agreed Michael, " I would do it ."

" So, is this going to be a lower case activity ," Zoey picked up her pen again," cake walk booth for the 8th graders ?"

" Sure ," said Dustin, readily ," I cant bake or anything but I bet Jessica and some of her friends would help us out with it . You can count us in, Zo "

" Cake walk "

" Cake walk," pondered Michael, testing the words ," we're walking for cake though its super delicious and doesn't have legs , makes you wonder . Doesn't it ?"

" You'll be first in line " teased Lisa , checking her watch," I've got to go to dance class . Talk to you later "

" Love you " Michael kissed her then she was off, weaving her way to the arts building .

Dustin grabbed a handful of his sisters grapes then with a wave took off in search of his own friends and the girl he was currently sort of seeing . James waved at his girlfriends brother then made a beeline for the table, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he sat beside her . He glanced around the table, noting it was mainly the three of them.

" Hey Cuteness " smiled James, reaching for Zoey's hand ," where is everyone today ?"

" Lisa just left ," answered Michael between mouthfuls of his meat ," don't know where Logan is ..probably working on Alyssa ."

Zoey raised a brow ." She's still hitting on him ? I'm surprised she hasn't been his latest conquest " She stuck out her tongue at the disgusting of it ." I've heard her talking about being into him which is gross but then she's as gross as Logan is too ."

" I figured he'd already made his move but if he has, Logan isn't telling ," added Michael , thoughtfully ," which is just another weird thing with him ."

" Lola is probably off in the drama department working on mastering Desdemona or something ," decided Zoey, matter of fact ," Quinn is probably working on a new Quinnvention and lost track of time ."

" So, I am ready and on board to set up booths and sets for the Harvest Festival ," James tried to break through the subtle wariness his girlfriend was giving off though they had made amends ," reporting for boyfriend duty, Zo."

" Thanks , James, and as soon as I figure out what exactly I am doing , I will put you to work on any of those things " managed Zoey, not quite meeting his eyes .

Things were okay with them after they had made up but one part of her couldn't help but consider what Quinn had suggested about Chase and niggling doubts about her feelings for her best friend was enough to make her wonder if she had leaped without really thinking .

Was James really the guy for her ?

She wasn't quite sure and it was making her question all of her decisions about her life these days . For being one of the most confident young women on campus, Zoey felt anything but and glanced at James, his smile warm but didn't quite send her pulse racing or send her heart thundering in her chest but that didn't mean she didn't love him .

Or did it ?

*********************************PCA************** ******************

Lola avoided her friends table like the plague as she wondered around the campus in search of Vince, her mind a whirlwind of feelings and thoughts about the cutie , and decided it was plain silly not to do something she wanted to do just because her friends were sure to hate the whole idea . Logan was their friend but they did hate him more often than not so if you thought about it in the same thingie as Logan then anything was possible . All she knew was that there was something about Vince that she liked and she wanted to go out with him.

Lola found him studying at a table in the far corner of the quad, the slight wind ruffling his reddish brown hair, and he looked handsome in a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt , which was both casual and not stuffy , which was a biggie for her .

She didn't like stuffy guys….Quinn liked the boring type of dudes .

" Hey you "

Vince looked up, smiling into her eyes , and stood ." Lola, this is a surprise ."

" I decided I wanted to see you " announced Lola , rambling as she did when she just wanted to take the plunge into something new ," I can forgive you for beating up my best guy friends because I know you wont do it again . Your not a bully anymore …yes, I believe you."

" I'm glad you wanted to see me , I wanted to see you again too " admitted Vince , touching the small of her back," so now we're seeing each other ."

He ushered her into an empty chair and sat beside her. " I spoke with Michael and Logan ," brought up a resigned Vince ," they didn't accept my apology . You were right about that and they really do hate me but they think a lot about you, Lola ."

" It was sweet of you to apologize to those two morons , Vince " sighed Lola , noticing how his blue eyes sort of crinkled like he had a secret when he looked at her and she wanted to find out what it was ," they'll get over the whole you hurt them thing eventually . So, I'm done talking about them and I made up my mind that I want to go out with you .."

Vince moved closer to her , mouth curving in a semi-smile ." Not playing hard to get ? "

" I don't do that " Lola stated , her voice hard ," I don't care what you've heard but I am just really picky about who I go out with but I am not a skank . If you want to think that about me, Vince, then this is so not going to work with us ."

" Whoa, pretty lady , I don't think any of the sorts ," Vince was quick to defend himself before he ruined any chances he had of getting to know her much better ," I think kids like to listen to the gossip here more than the truth . So does this mean that I can buy you lunch and we can start talking about going on a date , Lola ?"

" Lunch is good ," told Lola , nervously ," and so is a date , Hot Stuff ."

His grin was boyish ." We can do anything you want , Lola, and I am perfectly alright with you calling all of the shots of our first date . I'm just really glad that you changed your mind about me …..why don't I go get you that drink now ."

" I want a blueberry Blix and some French fries ," stated Lola, " and you shouldn't be offended too much if my friends don't like you right off the bat . They'll come around eventually but you might be able to convince Zoey and Quinn your not the same guy you were last year …after I tell them we're dating ."

" You really are cute " Vince captured her lips in a searing kiss that had her legs going all tingly and holding onto his hair as if to support her ," thanks for giving me a chance ."

" Wow "

" I'll go get you that lunch now " declared Vince , heading back inside to the cafeteria .

Lola took the alone time to collect her thoughts , her usual guy theories flying out of her head because they clearly didn't apply to Vince and was afraid her heart was in jeopardy for the first time in a really long time .

He wasn't trying to treat her like some flaky girl and somehow he saw her -Lola Martinez .

She had dated numerous guys , had a lot of fun with them, but there were none of them that had her questioning her heart or wanting to take risks to be with them .

Maybe the fact was that Lola hadn't ever really been in love with a guy before and Vince was making her think about the love word and they hadn't even gone on a real date yet .

No apple tasting kiss ability tests could tell her what she needed to know so she was simply going to follow her heart's lead on this one and see where it happened to go.

Love was a funny , wacky thing .


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Nope I still don't own Zoey 101, just playing around at PCA.

**************************PCA********************* ******************

Quinn was taking advantage of the quiet of her dorm while her friends were out , concentrating on the formula for an emotional triggered perfume , the idea inspired by the neutralizer she had created for Michael. While she studied the formulas and combinations on her screen her mind wandered back to Logan and their complicated , secret relationship. Upon reflection it seemed to her as if Logan had matured and changed into this sweet, caring guy who could still be an annoying egomaniac and a jerk or maybe her feelings for him was clouding her judgment .

Being with him made her happier than her two years with Mark ever had and that scared her on so many levels that she was afraid of what would happen if she stopped thinking and just let herself feel as Chase had suggested .

Quinn didn't know if her heart could handle if she fell in love with Logan Reese .

Her musings were interrupted when Lola burst into their room, tossing her ever present bag on the floor and throwing herself into the bean bag chair on the floor .

" Hey, Quinn, are you busy ? Never mind, I need to talk to you about something "

Quinn closed her laptop and turned her attention on her best friend, who clearly had something on her mind . Lola was a fantastic actress but her thoughts were always written across her face and right now it looked as if she was grappling with something .

" What's the matter ?" asked Quinn, folding her legs underneath her as she sat on the couch. And gave all of her focus to Lola.

Lola bit her lip, grateful that Zoey was still at one of her meetings because it would be much easier telling Quinn first or she hoped so anyway .

" Quinn," started Lola, letting out a breath," I wanted to tell you that there is this guy and I think I really like him. Like maybe seriously like him …like relationship type like ."

" Lola , that is awesome ," Quinn was thrilled for her best friend ," who is he ? Is it that guy who winks at you in your drama class ? "

Lola rolled her eyes ." No, no, its not him ," Lola hesitated ," the thing is….I talked to him and he isn't the jerk he used to be . Really he has changed …he's very spiritual now and I like him …."

Quinn blinked confused behind her glasses ." Who is he, Lola ?"

" Vince Blake "

Shock registered across Quinn's face as she shot up to gape at her best friend .

" Vince Blake ! Have you lost your mind ? Lola, he beat up Logan and the guys ! How could you like such a jerk like him ?" accused Quinn, her mind on the wounded expression in Logan's eyes and the vulnerability he had shown when his pride had been stepped on by the very person Lola was talking about . " Did he hypnotize you or something ?"

" Stop it! You haven't talked to him, Quinn," Lola was determined to make her best friend understand . Quinn was her best friend and the most understanding person she knew ," I did . I have and I admit I thought it was all a lie at first but then he opened up to me . I believe that he has changed so that is why I am going out with him .."

" You can't be serious , Lola ," Quinn tried to make sense of it ," its impossible for a guy to go from a big bully to what ..a good guy in a whole year "

" People can change, Quinn," argued a passionate Lola ," well, except for Logan . I mean he's always going to be a skirt chasing girl using jerk who will never change his ways but Vince isn't like that at all. He's really calm and nice ..he regrets what he did and I like him. I like Vince …"

Skirt chasing girl using jerk …..Quinn's train of thought was interrupted but Lola's rather mean assessment of Logan and though she yearned to tell her that it just wasn't true , that Lola didn't get to see the real Logan, her niggling insecurities were swayed by the words .

Logan kept saying they were serious , that he cared about her , but what if he changed his mind about her ?

What if he didn't want to be exclusive with just her ? Her heart and head warred over this as she tried to focus again as Lola ranted on and on about giving Vince a chance and supporting her .

" You're my best friend , Quinn, I thought you'd at least be open-minded ," went on Lola, noticing the far away look in her brown eyes with curiosity ," like I was about you and Mark, you know ."

" You never liked Mark " shot back Quinn, trying to focus on Lola once more and not her own fears and insecurities about her relationship with Logan .

" But I never ever suggested you should break up with him for someone better because I knew you loved the boring loser, Quinn. That is what best friends do ! "

" Are you saying your in love with Vince , Lola ?' asked Quinn, point blank .

Lola froze , shaking her head , wildly ." I don't believe in all that love at first sight stuff except for like Zoey and Chase or Zoey and James ," declared Lola ," I don't know , who ever makes her happy is the important thing . I don't want you to hate on me or Vince because I am dating the guy , Quinn, and I don't think I'm asking too much ."

Quinn rubbed at the slight headache forming behind her eyes and felt a knot in her stomach , echoing her own fears about her and Logan right back at her .

" I think you've lost your mind because the boy is obviously charming or we wouldn't even be talking about this, Lola ," says Quinn, unsettled ," what did he say to you ?"

Lola heaved a sigh and tried to explain it . If anyone should get it , it would be this was turning out to be really frustrating .

" The truth ," answered Lola, her tone changing to serious ," he isn't the cocky jerk who beat up the guys and cheated . He had some issues which he dealt with and is still working on but I feel in my gut that he has changed which is why I agreed to go out with him in the first place ."

" Oh and he apologized to Michael and Logan even though they didn't take it . I think that stands for something good that he did that because he didn't have to, you know ."

" I don't know , Lola, seems kind of slimy to me " hedged an uncertain Quinn, watching as Lola's face fell in disappointment then felt bad ," Lola, are you sure this isn't like a crush ? Like your ..you get crushes all of the time and nothing ever comes from them ."

" It isn't a crush, Quinn," Lola plopped back down on the couch beside her ," I really like the guy and he doesn't have that fake charm like Logan does ..he's real ."

"Logan isn't fake " blurted out Quinn, without realizing what she was saying .

This is why it was imperative that she think or else she would do stupid things like defend Logan to Lola which her friend was bound to notice eventually .

" I'm not talking about stupid Logan," growled Lola , under her breath ," and yea, I really like Vince . So I don't really know him well but we did talk and he gets me ..he doesn't see me as just some cute flaky actress like most of the guys here do, Quinn."

" Lola, you are much more than that " reassured Quinn, giving her a stern look," and it's the guys you go out with that has the problems if they don't see that . What do you mean that Vince gets you ?"

" I just feel like when he talks to me its like he cares about what I have to say and not just my looks " answered Lola, honestly ," plus he is super cute and the whole persistent thing usually bugs me but I kind of like it with him ."

" This is the most I've heard you go on about liking a guy in ages," realized Quinn, " I still think you've lost your mind . Zoey will agree with me but obviously nothing I can say is going to talk you out of feeling this way or going out with Vince ."

" So you wont tell him off or anything ?" questioned Lola, hugging her best friend, gleefully .

" I didn't agree to that " says Quinn, evenly ," just be careful , Lola ."

" Oh, I will ," Pleased that Quinn wasn't talking about doing anything drastic to Vince and having taking the news much better than she had anticipated , Lola decided it couldn't hurt to check in on her best friends well being while they were being all serious ," so, you changed your mind about wanting Mark back ?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes ." Lola, I told you I am over Mark ," dismissed Quinn with a wave of her hand ," Brooke can have him . I don't love him anymore …"

" Alright but what's with all the weird behavior , Quinn ? Are you thinking about finding a rebound guy cause I think that is what you need ," insisted Lola, trying to be helpful," someone who doesn't want any commitment , just a fun fling to help you finish getting over him."

Quinn felt the pounding increase and tried to shut out Lola's good natured suggestion .

" Lola, you know I'm not the type of girl who wants or does flings," stated Quinn, " that isn't me . I am completely one hundred percent over Mark …really I am ."

" Then we should find you a new guy to date " offered a knowing Lola ," you had some interest from the hot guys here after Mark broke up with you .."

" I don't want to date …look just be careful with Vince ," warned a distracted Quinn, feeling the urge to confront Logan and have it out over the definition of what they were to each other to clarify their relationship ," and tell Zoey about this whole Vince thing… I need a walk ."

" Why are you walking all of the time now, Quinn ? " hollered Lola, as her friend hightailed it out of the room and their conversation without responding ," I know your walks are about stuff ! You cant fool me "

But yelling was futile because Quinn was already gone .

Lola crossed her arms over her chest and let out a sigh of relief then called Vince .

She had never been so excited for a date in all of her sixteen years !

****************************************PCA******* *********************

Covington , England

" Do you like Hannah ?"

Chase slammed his English book shut and stared blankly at his roommate as if Colin had just asked him how to play a video game though he doubted his stuffy friend liked games that weren't chess. " What ?"

" Hannah is into you ," stated Colin, uncomfortably ," you were clearly flirting with her . Do you have any intentions of returning her affections ?"

" Affections ? I don't think kids talk like that anymore ," replied Chase , running a hand through his bushy hair ," Hannah is pretty great . I mean, if I was going to ask out a girl then why shouldn't I ask her out ? I mean, I told my friends I was going to ask her out so I should ask her out and now your telling me I should go for it …."

Colin shot out of his chair, offended by the idea ." I don't think you should go for anything with Hannah ! I don't care what lies you told your moronic friends who aren't here and you are still clearly into this Zoey person …."

Chase wagged a finger at him because he actually did have a point which didn't help him either .

" I cant help it if I've been in love with the girl for years and its not easy as one would think to not be in love anymore . I've been trying , you know or you would if you were my friend and listened to me ."

Colin loosened the tie at his neck, groaned and shot the American a dirty look as he began to join him in this pacing thing .

" I am not blind , Chase , and it wouldn't be fair to Hannah who thinks your all cute with your clumsiness and bushy hair ," went on Colin, trying to dissuade him," to use her to get over your Zoey obsession . I hate to mimic that ridiculous friend of yours but I am because I think you should get back in the game ..for Zoey, that is ."

Chase looked at him, stunned ." Oh my God , you like Hannah , dude . Does she know your into her ? She doesn't …man, the irony of this is really not lost on me, Colin ."

Colin plopped very much unlike himself onto the side of his bed, letting out a strangled sound and shook his head . He didn't like to discuss matters such as girls and personal things with his roommate but it seemed as if he had opened a can of worms by trying to dissuade Matthews from the girl he adored himself .

He was being the nit now , it seemed . " Hannah hasn't a clue of my feelings "

Chase settled in the chair , with a thoughtful expression on his face. " I think Hannah is really great, Colin, but I am not about to make a move on the girl you like . That's all kinds of wrong and there is the bro code and the roommate code ..and the I would feel as if I am betraying Zoey if I went out with Hannah thing as well ."

A pensive expression worked across Colin's features then some semblance of a genuine settled there.

" You are serious ? I have no claim to Hannah, just my unrequited feelings for her ."

" In love with Zoey since I first met her ," Chase pointed at himself ," insanely jealous whenever she dated a new guy and unable to tell her how I felt . Hoped she would figure it out on her own …man, you still have a chance to tell Hannah you like her and I am not going to be the guy to screw around and botch that up for you ."

" I appreciate that , Chase ," Colin managed a real smile ," even if I feel as if its futile . Is there really no chance for you and the love of your life ?"

" According to all of my friends James is a great guy and Zoey is blissfully happy with him," answered Chase , on edge ," Logan thinks I need to fight for her but I don't know . He's not like himself since he 's practically in love with Quinn I think …I don't know what I should do, Colin ."

" You flew all the way here to be with Zoey," said a contemplative Colin, trying to be an actual friend for a change . He had so few so this was new for him," and not that you don't make my life all the more exciting, Chase, you don't belong here . Are you any closer to persuading your parents to let you go back home to PCA?"

" They are still really big on the me staying here a whole semester thing ," admitted Chase , picking up his cell phone ," I've been texting all of my friends a lot though . I'm kind of hoping all of the international bill and texting will make them so angry at me that they let me go home a lot faster ….."

" It's an idea though I don't know how good of one " said a quiet Colin, glancing at the gangly young man ," Chase , you would really step aside to help me with Hannah ?"

Chase rolled his eyes ." Have I not told you my Zoey stories ? Yes, man, I will help you ," declared Chase , matter of fact," you know maybe that's what I'm supposed to do while I'm waiting . Help you with Hannah and help Logan with Quinn…oh God, I've become matchmaker Chase ! "

Colin chuckled ," It is amusing ."

" Shut up," said Chase , not unkindly ," listen, I'll help you with Hannah and you can help me liven up Covington . First things first, we need a Blix machine in the lounge and you're going to help me get one , Colin ."

He also wondered how Logan would feel about buying him a plane ticket home .

*****************************PCA****************** *************

Quinn's emotions were a jumbled mess as she walked briskly across the campus intent on having it out with Logan and wishing Lola's thoughtless words about him hadn't gotten to her but they had . It was natural for her to question her relationship with Logan .

They hadn't been together all that long and he was still considered the playboy of PCA.

He wasn't trying to change that title though he was a bit nicer now but girls still threw themselves at Logan .

They still wanted him and it wasn't as if Logan could tell them he had a girlfriend .

Mind working a mile a minute , Quinn nearly collided into Bart Emerson, who grasped her arm and righted her .

" Whoa there, Quinn, where 's the fire ?"

" Sorry ," Quinn pulled away from him," no fire . I didn't see you there …I need to go."

" Wait," Bart sent her a devilish smile ," what's with the old look ? You were looking super hot, Quinn, after your break up with Del Figgalo …"

" This is me ," stated Quinn, irritated by him," that girl wasn't now if you'll excuse me , Bart, I have someplace to be ."

She brushed right past him missing the desire filled gaze he directed her way as Quinn strode into the dormitory and towards Logan's room, thankful that the hall was empty .

" Logan "

Logan opened the door , pulled her in and into a kiss that had her shivering and wanting to slide into the warmth of his arms but she resisted the urge, backing away from him.

" Quinn ! The guys are gone for at least an hour ..why are you over there ?" asked Logan, noticing that she seemed tense and her brown eyes seemed almost sad .

" What are we , Logan ? " demanded Quinn, hand on her hip," and don't tell me that we're serious . I know that we're dating but when we're not sneaking around with each other are you…are you seeing other girls ?"

Logan gaped incredulously ." What the hell, Quinn ? Where is this coming from ?"

His chest hurt from her accusation and it took everything he had within him not to go off and scream at her . That was the old Logan and he was trying not to be him so much these days besides yelling at her wouldn't help their relationship .

Couples fought and he wasn't the only one who could be irrational -looks like Quinn was having her own little fit .

" Lola reminded me that you'll always love brainless trollops who's chest size is higher than their IQ's " Quinn knew she was being ridiculous but she was afraid of her own heart ," Mark got bored with me so I have to wonder how long it will take for you to get bored with me too ."

" Lola ," Logan reminded himself to count to ten and not strangle the actress no matter how much he might want to. She was Quinn's best friend though he didn't begin to understand that ," why are you listening to Lola ? Did you tell her about us ?"

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest , fighting back the urge to cry and nearly losing it when she saw the tender way that he was staring at her that would surely be her undoing .

" No, of course not ! Lola likes Vince Blake and she used you as an example of guys who aren't capable of change ..I know I shouldn't have listened but I don't know that you aren't finding one of your blonde bimbos after we're together and hooking up with them …"

God , the image was like driving a stake through her heart !

Logan crossed the room, wrapped his strong arms around her and brushed his lips over hers in the softest kiss meant to reassure her of how he felt about her .

" Lola is insane ," Logan caressed her face lightly with his hand ," haven't we talked about this before ? Because I know we have and I know your freaked out about all the brainless bimbos I've made out with but Quinn, I've never lied to you . "

She bit her bottom lip, hopeful ." You really don't want those bimbos anymore ?"

" No, I don't ," Logan was sincere as he brushed a strand of brow n hair aside ," I was bored with them before we even got together . I only want you, Quinn , and I thought it was pretty obvious that we're exclusive . So you'd better not be thinking about getting back with Del Figgs or looking at any other dudes because you're mine , babe ."

Quinn melted in his arms ." Ohhhh Logan ! I'm soo sorry , I should have known but I ..I don't think I could stand the hurt and you could hurt me badly, I think ."

Logan pressed a feather light kiss at her temple . " I promise that wont ever happen ."

" You really are sweet but you cant promise that ," says Quinn, resting her head in the curve of his neck ," we're a couple . It's only natural that we're going to fight and hurt each others feelings ." She kissed him sweetly ," We have been dating almost a month now ."

Logan rubbed his hands down her arms, smoothly ." I told my Dad that I was in a relationship with a smart, pretty girl , you know …."

Quinn couldn't help smiling against his neck, dropping a light kiss there .

" You told your Dad about us ? You are just full of surprises these days "

" Incredibly hot and irresistible ," grinned Logan, watching her lips curve upwards into the smile he loved ," and don't forget romantic ."

Quinn giggled ." Who would have known ?"

He grew serious as he led her over to sit together on the couch." You bring it out of me "

" I'm sorry I accused you of cheating on me " admitted Quinn in a small voice ," I should have known that you wouldn't do that to me..Mark was but I was an idiot . I never should have listened to what Lola was saying about you …I guess I let my fears get the best of me about us ."

Logan took her hands in his own, marveling at how perfect they fit together , and closed his eyes, weighing his words carefully in his head before he shared a part of him he just never opened up about his family .

" I would never cheat on you, Quinn. I don't do that ," Logan's voice was rough with emotion ," my Dad cheats ..he always has which is why he changes wives so much. I don't think he ever betrayed my Mom when she was alive but I mean, I know how he is but I'm not like that. That isn't me …I could never do that to you."

" Oh God, Logan, I am so sorry I even accused you of it in the first place " Quinn felt just horrible and played with the coppery curls at the nape of his neck ," I'm an idiot ! "

" We're new and I guess with my rep and everything I kind of understand why you would be worried but I promise you you don't have too " Logan leaned in to press his lips to hers ," look I was going to wait till our actual anniversary but I'm thinking now works better ."

" Our anniversary ?"

" Yes " answered Logan, with a smirk," so anyway, here , I want you to wear this ."

He dug his ring out of his pocket and pressed it into her palm, carefully as she stared at it ,incredulously .

" Your PCA ring ," murmured Quinn, sliding the too big ring on her finger ," you want me to wear your ring ?"

Logan turned slightly red as he caressed the finger that wore his ring ." Yea, I do ," he replied ," I know its probably cheesy but you wearing it says your mine . I also think I saw somewhere that its like going steady or something lame but ..please wear it ."

" I'd love too even though I'll have to hide it around our friend s " Quinn beamed happily at him throwing her arms around him," I don't even care if its tradition straight out of the 1950's , I would be honored to wear your ring, Logan ."

" Good so that means you and me are going steady " muttered Logan, inhaling the unique smell of her perfume mingled with the peppermint of her breath spray she always used .

It was more than vanilla and peppermint , it was just his Quinn.

" Yes "

Just as Quinn leaned in to kiss her boyfriend the door burst open bringing in a frantic Michael who was rambling a mile a minute as he glanced at them as they tried to scoot away from each other and hoped he didn't notice anything different about them.

" I can't believe I ran off without my wallet ," said Michael, pulling open a dresser drawer , rifling through his socks and underwear to unearth his wallet ," I was going to buy my lil Lisa some frozen yogurt when I realized I didn't have my wallet . Can you believe that? I must have been really out of it last night if I put it in my drawer…Quinn, what are you doing over here ?"

" She's helping me … I mean, Quinn is tutoring me which is why she is here with me "

Quinn grabbed the nearest book from the floor making a face as she did so and hoped their friend was too worked up to question them .

" Right , I mean, I thought we told you guys I agreed to tutor Logan in everything , Michael , because he wants to be more than a C and D student .."

" Right ," said a nervous Logan, removing his arm from her knee," so I can look better to the colleges and stuff if my grades this year and next are better than average . Pensky said she would help me with them …."

" He's funding my latest Quinnvention " she added , as an afterthought .

Quinn covered her finger that had Logan's ring on it ." Unless you saw us , Michael "

Logan shot her a fearful look as if asking her what she was doing .

Michael looked from Quinn to his roommate , rubbing his chin, thoughtfully . " Saw you tutoring Logan ? With an upside geometry book and sitting awfully close together …what are you guys playing at ? I didn't think you liked tutoring people since you tried that with Zoey and it didn't work out so well , if I recall."

Quinn bit her bottom lip, shared a questioning look with her boyfriend and pondered if they should come clean with Michael in case he had seen them together before they had noticed him . There was the slightest chance he had witnessed them embracing .

" That was a long time ago ," laughed Quinn, her voice higher from nerves ," and I really don't mind helping Logan broaden his horizons beyond average ."

" Shouldn't you be getting back to Lisa ? Did you just leave her hanging or what , dude ?" interrupted Logan, standing up, " you just got out of the doghouse with her . You wont get nothing with her if you keep forgetting things and her …not cool to be blowing off the girlfriend."

Michael frowned at him, tucking his wallet in his pocket ." Quinn tutoring you is hilarious ! Man, did your dad threaten you or what , Logan ? Bring up those grades for a change or I'll take all your credit cards away from you again ..that …is rich ."

He chuckled at his own humor though neither Quinn nor Logan found it funny .

" Do the others know about this tutoring thing ? That is the funniest thing I have ever heard ..you two hate each other . You bicker and fight like an old married couple …I want video, Quinn, if you zap this moron "

" Will you just shut up about it and go buy your woman ice cream , dude " Logan all but shoved his still laughing roommate out of the dorm ," let me and Quinn get back to the studying and tutoring …"

Michael shook his head, cackling ." You guys crack me up ! "

Logan got up and slammed the door , waited a beat until his laughter disappeared and then turned back, hands on his hips, indignant look on his face .

" You almost told Michael that we're dating ! You cant deny it, Quinn, I saw it all over your face ! Why would you do that ?"

" Well, I cant help it if I panicked ," says Quinn, moving the book to the desk ," besides we had no warning , I didn't know if he saw us embracing ! Not to mention I am wearing your ring ! "

" Michael has a big mouth , he would have never let us live it down if he saw us hugging , Quinn . He didn't say a thing so I don't think he saw us …I mean, he totally bought you tutoring me " said a pleased Logan , dragging a hand through his curls , impatiently .

" I might as well go ahead and tutor you since Michael will tell everyone I am ," mused Quinn, idly touching the red stone in the PCA ring he had given her ," that was good thinking . Helped that we hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet either …"

She let out a sigh as he settled beside her, taking her hand into his ." Did you see how Michael reacted just to the concept of me helping you ? He thinks we're hilarious ."

" I saw ," said Logan, caressing her thumb ," that just is another point of why we cant tell our friends we're dating . I don't even want to think about the kind of abuse Zoey and Lola would give me if they knew about us …."

Quinn leaned against him, resting her head against his cheek and suddenly felt as if everything about them was truly real , even more so than before .

" They would think I lost my mind " murmured Quinn, " though that would be Lola . I cant believe the first guy who makes her sit up and notice is a jerk like Vince …a leopard cannot change its spots that fast ."

He bristled a little ." Yeah, she has bad taste "

" Lola is usually more pickier on who she dates so this is really something of a shocker to me ," admitted Quinn, resting her head against him again," but then I suppose she wouldn't like the idea of me with you either , Logan ."

" Why are we wasting our time freaking out over the abuse our friends would give us about our relationship ? I mean, we're not telling anyone but Chase and all that matters is that we like each other , Quinn ."

" You really are smarter than people give you credit for , Logan "

Logan tilted her chin up, dropping a soft kiss on her mouth. " I have a brilliant girlfriend I have to keep up with "

Quinn returned his kiss then separated from him. " I need to make an appearance on the patio before Zoey comes looking for me and it wouldn't hurt for you to study , Logan."

His smile was charming ." I was studying kissing you ."

" I'll talk to you later , sweetie " Feeling much better than she had when she had intended to pick a fight about his notorious ways and feeling foolishly happy that he was becoming a one woman kind of guy, she smiled at him and left Maxwell Hall .

******************************PCA***************** *********************

A few hours later in room 101 , Lola had destroyed the girls closet in effort to find the perfect first date dress , finding outfits from both her own , Quinn, and Zoey's wardrobe to choose from before discarding them for being just not right or not really her .

Finally deciding she was putting too much effort into it, Lola chose a short purple mini-skirt and a simple button down red shirt , borrowing a pair of Quinn's boots to complete the outfit . She was brushing her hair and debating on lip-gloss when Zoey wandered in , an unreadable expression on the blonde's face as she plopped down on her bed .

" Hey "

" Harvest planning not going well ?" asked Lola, curiously .

" I have a committee to help me now ," explained Zoey with a sigh ," which includes a few Senior jocks I'd rather not have to deal with as well as Stacy Dilson and my boyfriend . There is just so much to do…and Michael volunteered him and Logan to help us which is awesome except their football practice starts next week."

" You'll figure it out , you always do, Zo "

" I hope so ," Zoey took in the actresses outfit ," why are you all dressed up ?"

" I have a date " announced Lola , as Quinn joined them in their room ," in a few ."

" She has a date with Vince Blake " added Quinn for Zoey's benefit and allowed the information to sink in as a look of pure disbelief spread across the blonde's face .

" Vince Blake ? No ! Lola, why would you say yes to the guy who beat up our three best guy friends ? Have you lost your mind now ?"

" She says that he has changed now " contributed Quinn, her own words echoing back at her . She felt as if Logan was changing ..he was still a conceited jerk but he was more mature , more caring .

If Logan could change , it might be possible that Vince could as well - it was something that she would have to think about .

" Knock, knock ," Vince stood in the doorway of their room, apprehension on his forehead as he caught the girls argument ," sorry I didn't mean to easedrop or anything but the door was open . Should I come back another time or never ?"

Lola beamed at him. " Don't be ridiculous ," Lola grabbed her purse ," my roommates are just being rude . I'm starving so I hope you're taking me someplace really good to eat ."

" How do you feel about Italian food ?" asked Vince , stepping inside the room and ignoring the blatant bad vibes that Zoey and Quinn were shooting his way . He wanted to make a better impression on her friends and had considered how this might be possible ahead of time .

" Love it " enthused an excited Lola, grabbing hold of his arm .

" Look girls , I know you dislike me for my behavior last year but I really am not that guy anymore ," stated Vince , before either Quinn or Zoey could tell him off ," I still attend therapy sessions every Thursday , I look towards the spiritual ways of enlightment to keep me calm and centered . I don't even drink coffee anymore and yoga and meditation …it helps keeps me balanced ."

" Lola is another way of balance to your Buddha way of living ?" asked Zoey, with a frown.

" Zoey !"

" No, Zoey, Lola isn't a means of anything . I like her "

Lola found herself a little melting at this ." Awwwwwwwww…."

" That may be ," Quinn erred on the side of cautious ," but we are watching you, mister . You step out of line with her, Vince , and I have ways of taking care of my friends . Trust me , you do not want to hurt my best friend …."

" Quinn is good at making things that will explode " added a helpful Zoey, meaning business.

" Quinn, you promised me you wouldn't threaten my date ! "

" I'm just putting it out there is all , so technically, I didn't threaten him "

" Your friends are just looking out for you, Lola ,' Vince was calm," I understand that . Come on, we have reservations and I don't want to be late …."

With a polite smile at the girls, Vince escorted Lola out of the dorm to their date , leaving her friends pondering the sincerity of his little speech .

******************************PCA***************** *********************

" Quinn," asked Zoey, her mind not on Lola but on the men in her life instead ," how did you know that you were in love with Mark ? That he was the right one for you ?"

Quinn folded her legs under her, tapping a finger against her lip ." Oh Zoey, I don't know ," answered Quinn, truthfully ," I just knew or I thought that I knew . Don't get me wrong because I did love Mark but obviously he wasn't the right guy for me …"

Zoey played with the frayed ends of her blue jean mini-skirt ." You don't think your being a tiny bit bitter about Mark because of what he did to you ?"

" I might have been a lot bitter at first but trust me , I haven't been in a while ," continued Quinn ," I was really young when I got together with Mark, Zoey. I don't think I really knew what real love was …is this about you and James ?"

" Maybe ," allowed Zoey, who had been questioning her feelings since she and James had recovered from their first fight as a couple ," James is amazing . He is perfect and I really care for him but do you think I rushed into a relationship with him ? "

" James is a great guy, Zoey, " Quinn didn't know how to answer her either ," but honestly , you've never been really good at deciding your own feelings . Lola and I figured it must be the real thing with you and James when you got with him like almost immediately so I don't know what you want me to say ."

" Neither do I, Quinn "

*************************PCA********************** *********************

Sam and Pete's was an upscale restaurant a few miles up the coast from PCA , the Italian eatery taking its looks and its ambiance straight out of a movie with elegant tables dripping with white tablecloths and candles to set the mood, and music and the smells of Tuscany straight out of Under the Tuscan Sun which Lola had pointed out as soon as they were seated at a cozy table near the back for privacy .

" This is so cool ," Lola looked around her surroundings , noting the sunflower on their table ," I love Italian . I've seen Under the Tuscan Sun a million times and lasagna is my favorite food . Besides those fancy desserts with the coffee in it ….I think the only thing I don't like are those Italian mob movies because how is that fun ? I think it's a guy thing ."

Vince smiled at her enthusiasm ." I'm not really a big fan of the mob myself so I wouldn't know but we both love lasagna which is cool ."

" It's the underrated lasagna food I think because of the noodles ," rambled on Lola ," its not thin like angel hair or spaghetti noodles ."

She turned her head , his blue eyes holding hers and colored by what she saw there and felt her heart race against her chest . Her heart was really getting away from her lately .

It was hard to be coy when it felt as if he saw right through to who she really was .

" Did you really mean what you said to Quinn and Zoey back there , Vince ?'

Vince covered her hand with his own ." Yea, I did ," replied Vince , struck by her beauty and the energy she exuded like air ," I don't really care if your friends like me or not because I like you, Lola , but I wanted to try to make my case to them."

" They'll come around eventually " said Lola , knowingly ," so I do like you to but I'm not an idiot . I've heard the stories about you from other girls and you got around more than Logan and his ..ew , sluts of the week or whatever but you know I'm not that kind of girl . Quinn would zap you because she's crazy and sweet like that but just so you know, I'm the dangerous one ."

Vince threw his head back, laughing and felt himself falling into a deep hole .

He thanked God or the Buddha or Karma , whoever's plan it was that brought her into his life because he was sure it was supposed to be .

" Still not that guy anymore , Lola ," reassured Vince , meaning it ," I believe you are dangerous "

He leaned across the table , dropping a brief kiss across her mouth ." Sweet stuff "

" I don't know if I'm that sweet, Hot Stuff , but you make me laugh and I like that " declared Lola, more to herself than to him ," do you like to dance?"

" I'm not much of a dancer but I do enjoy it " admitted Vince ," I could take you dancing later if that is what you would like to do ."

" Dancing would be fun," Lola's face lit up at the sight of the breadsticks their server dropped off at their table ," Oh my God, I love warm bread ! "

Vince knew as she purred over the warm bread that he was in love with the actress .

*****************************PCA****************** *****************

Meanwhile back on campus , Zoey caught up with Lisa in the laundry room as the girls separated their whites and colors , the murmur of chatter quiet as it was still the middle of the week. Quinn had already done her laundry and begged off citing homework .

" Lisa , can I ask you a personal question ?' asked Zoey, wanting to get more than just Quinn's opinion and her mind warring with herself , troubled over the guys .

Lisa tossed one of Michael's sweatshirts which had gotten left her dorm into the wash with her own then turned towards her friend, noting the unZoeyness immediately .

" Well, you know that Michael and I haven't slept together yet but ask away "

" That is none of my business , Lisa ," Zoey tossed a tee shirt into the washer ," you never fell for Michael right off . I mean, you were dating another guy and he was losing his mind in a closet over you but once you got together , you guys were perfect ."

Lisa laughed and fixed her with a look ." Mike and I are hardly perfect , Zo ," told Lisa with a chuckle ," we fight over the stupidest things sometimes . You have met my boyfriend before ? He's the most emotional guy I know and though Mike can drive me crazy , those are two of the reasons I think I fell for him ."

" On my one week anniversary with James I signed his gift luv ," admitted a apprehensive Zoey ," L-U-V, not the big love . Less serious but I think James and I are serious but shouldn't I be in love with him already ?"

Lisa frowned ." I don't think there's like a time frame on falling in love, Zoey ."

" I know ," sighed a torn Zoey, picking up a purple bra and tossing it in the washer along with one of Quinn's vests and more tee shirts ," I'm just feeling really confused all of the sudden . James and I even made up and we're great but I don't feel so great about us ."

" Did you tell James that ?" asked Lisa , quietly .

" I've already overreacted so many times over absurd things , I don't want him to have doubts about me ," stated Zoë, feeling anything but confident ," not when I am the one having doubts about me . I thought James and I were easy and simple ….."

" From my own experience falling in love with Michael Barrett , love is never easy "

**************************PCA********************* ********************

" So, you dressed like a freaky Goth girl who was going to what murder them in their sleep to test your acting skills ?" asked Vince , chuckling as they shared a tiramisu .

Lola took a bite , sighing her love of the dessert , then nodded .She had enlightened him of her first experience with Zoey and Nicole as her roommates upon arriving at PCA.

It had been a fun true story , he never judged her and had gotten a kick out of it .

" It really showed off my range as an awesome actress ,' informed Lola ," though looking back, I'm lucky Zoey and Nicole didn't kill me because I scared them to death ."

" I would have loved to have seen that " Vince squeezed her hand ," so what about you and Quinn? You mentioned earlier that she is your best friend …."

" Oh, well Quinn is weird and crazy ," said Lola with affection ," and I've been called crazy before so we just get each other. She's my best friend and I love her ….even though she's melted my phone and scared me too death with her Quinnventions from time to time . What about your friends ? Did any of your old friends who weren't with you bullying folks still your friend ?"

His smile was strained ." The hockey team buddies I had want to ride on my power train but I think I disappointed them when I told them I wasn't going back to that again ."

" It just means your a lot better than them " Lola felt happy and as if she didn't have to pretend with him ," and I am so stuffed, I couldn't eat another bite ."

" You could take the last bite back to PCA with you for later " told a practical Vince .

" Oooh yay ! Vince , this has been really awesome and I mean that " Lola grew serious ," I cant remember the last time I had a good time on a date . If we go out again, I'll try to tell you when that was and with who ..unless you don't want to know ."

" Oh, you can count on that second date , Lola Martinez ," Vince kissed her , tenderly ," and a third and a forth ….are we on the same page ?"

Lola smiled against his lips ." I can make you a list except I don't believe in them "

" Fifth date ?"

Lola wasn't sure where her heart was but Vince was doing a dang good job of wrangling it and she couldn't have been more happier about it .

She still didn't believe in true love but fate could be helping her change her tune .


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Sadly I still do not own Zoey 101 .

Quinn had decided that the constant stress of worrying about people finding out about her secret relationship wasn't good for her and Logan to focus on all of the time so even though it was something she worried it, she simply decided it wasn't productive to dwell on it . She turned her focus on just enjoying being in a relationship with Logan and found that it had made all of the difference for them .

The guys had started up football practice again so between his practices, schoolwork, hanging out with their friends, they both took care to make time for each other when they could .

Meanwhile Lola and Vince were officially dating and had become an item within a couple of weeks despite their protests that she was a traitor, Michael and Logan's failed attempts at comeuppance on Vince had only made things more awkward between them, and didn't seem to phase Lola in the slightest .

She liked Vince and had told the gang that wasn't going to change .

It was almost six in the evening and Quinn sat on the couch in the lounge , her history book open on her lap, legs tucked beneath her , and enjoying the peace and quiet of the lounge . Her friends hadn't surfaced yet and a glance at her watch told her that Logan and Michael and even Vince should be coming in from football practice soon .

With the meetings and preparations for the Harvest festival , they were lucky to see Zoey when she tumbled into their dorm and promptly crashed , exhausted from planning .

The lounge was practically empty tonight with the exception of a few freshman tucked away in the corner shooting some pool and a couple stopping to refill their drinks at the Blix machine so Quinn was grateful for the quiet .

" Hey babe " called Logan, smiling at her as he came in all tussled hair , dressed in a pair of shorts and his football jersey as he sat down beside her, placing a hand on her knee .

" Logan " hissed Quinn, jerking her head towards the guys in the corner.

" No one is watching us " reassured Logan with a cocky grin," we have the place practically all to ourselves , Quinn. "

She pushed her glasses up and smiled , her heart in her eyes and leaned into him .

" How was practice ?" inquired Quinn, taking an interest in what she knew was important to him. The Coach had been weighing what was the best for the team in regards for having Vince back on the team with mixed emotions so he had been rotating both Vince and Logan as quarterback , which she knew had her boyfriend on edge .

Even though Logan was loathe to admit it, Quinn knew he felt as if he needed to prove he was better than Vince or something along those lines .

Her Logan had a lot of pride .

" It was alright ," admitted Logan with a nonchalance he didn't feel, " you'd think by now it'd be clear I'm the obvious choice for quarterback. I mean, I am the best looking guy on the team and the best player so it ought to be a no brainer ….but no, because Blake is all Zen and Buddha and sucks up to everyone ."

Quinn covered his hand with hers ." Logan, it shows maturity and self -awareness that you refuse to brownnose everyone . Makes you the better man and I , for one, am really proud of you for it …."

" It's not easy, Quinn ," admitted Logan, through gritted teeth ," Blake is annoying . Lola was there today, you know, cheering him on and making me and Michael want to throw up …"

" Lola is just being supportive of Vince "

" Can't you come and support me, Quinn," asked Logan, quietly ," I mean, it doesn't have to be like its obvious or anything …you could say your are there for Michael but I'd like my girlfriend in the stands for me ….unless you don't want too ."

Quinn melted at the vulnerability she saw across his face and touched by his heartfelt request .

" I would love to watch my boyfriend practice " murmured Quinn , ducking to kiss him," in case I never mentioned it , I do support you , Logan ."

" What is this ?" asked Michael as he and Lisa trailed into the lounge as Quinn and Logan sprang apart , guiltily .

" Stop being dramatic, Michael ," said Lisa , pulling her boyfriend onto the couch beside her ," looks like Quinn is tutoring Logan to me ."

Her eyes narrowed noticing that Logan seemed to be touching Quinn's leg but then dismissed it as nothing .

" Yea, Quinn is making me restudy for this stupid American history exam ," lied Logan , folding his hands in front of him," the nerd cant even let me chill after a brutal practice ."

" Don't be a baby " scolded Quinn, closing her book.

Logan smirked at her and resisted the urge to put his arms around her . It was getting difficult to be around her and not touch her , even just to hold her hand .

" I wish Coach would make up his mind about the whole quarterback thing soon ," continued Logan, venting ," we all know Vince is probably still the best but he screwed up last year. I shouldn't have to be put in this position when it is clearly way smarter to just use me …."

" You know I don't like Vince anymore than you do, man, but we have got to think about the team this time around " said a thoughtful Michael , as Lisa handed him a Blip .

" Regardless of what the Coach decides , I am proud of you both for giving up on your silly revenge on Vince ," declared Lisa, dropping a light kiss on her boyfriends mouth," I knew you two were more mature than you let on ."

" Hey, we just didn't want to get expelled " said Michael in his and Logan's defense ," doesn't mean that we are on board the Vince is great train you and Lola have , Lisa ."

Lisa had decided to give Vince the benefit of the doubt and as far as she could tell from the yoga class she had with the former bully, Vince was a different guy but her boyfriend was stubborn and was barely trying to be civil .

" Lola is one of your best friends, Michael, " reminded Lisa, mildly ," you could try for her . She was suspicious of me when you and I first got together , if you think about it ."

" Yes and Lola dated Lafe for like a week ," added Michael ," the girl is swayed by the dudes good looks . She will get bored with Vince in a few weeks so there is no reason for me and Logan to be all buddy buddy with the man who hurt us …"

" Are you guys still going on about Vince ?' interrupted James as he led Zoey into the room and they joined the rest of their friends to hang out . It had been a long day and he knew his girl needed some downtime from festival planning before she lost it ," at the risk of you hating me again, I think the guy is on the up and up ."

" We can hate you again " chimed in Logan, sneering at him until Quinn shot him a look.

" Shut up, Logan," added Zoey, curling up next to James and trying to get comfortable ," look its obviously doing us no good to continue hating Vince since Lola obviously is doing what she wants to. Maybe we should try trusting her judgment for a change ….give Vince a chance ."

Quinn stole a sidelong glance at Logan and idly pondered if Zoey and the others would feel the same way if they knew about her and Logan ?

" I agree with Zoey and James , for the record " voiced Lisa, smiling warmly at them .

" LISA! We've been over this like a million times ! How can you say that ? " accused an affronted Michael ," that's like saying that Logan here could ever get an actual real girlfriend instead of the little bimbos he likes to hook up with .."

Logan opened his mouth to defend himself just as Quinn did but realized they would be giving themselves away if they did so instead pretending they hadn't heard anything .

" I could ! I mean, its possible ! " blurted out Logan then shut up,:" if I wanted too."

Michael and James chuckled as if it was the most hilarious thing they had ever heard even Zoey laughed , unaware at the tension it brought on with Quinn and Logan .

" Hey there you guys are ," Lola spoke up, pulling a reluctant Vince in with her ," I told Vince you guys must be hanging out over here since I couldn't find you anywhere else ."

" She did " Vince nodded , taking a seat in the armchair as Lola settled on his lap," so, guys, rough practice today, eh ? Wore me out …told Lola all I wanted to do was hang out tonight and do very little ."

" It was a rough practice " managed Michael, noting the fixed look Lisa was shooting him.

" We're hanging out so glad you could join us ," sighed Zoey, as James rubbed her shoulders ," I really need to relax and maybe you guys could help me figure out how to put a stop to this stupid booth we're supposed to run. "

" We as in all of us ?" inquired a curious Quinn, realizing she had forgotten to remove her ring and did her best to hide her finger underneath the book, hoping no one noticed .

" Yes as in all of us ," sighed Zoey with a groan ," we are apparently running a kissing booth despite the fact its sexist and outdated . Dean Rivers suggested it and volunteered us and nothing I seem to say is making him change his mind about it ."

Logan bit the inside of his lip." Wait, so any guys can pay to kiss you girls ? All of you girls, Zoey ?"

Zoey rolled her eyes ." Me, Quinn, and Lola , yes . Haven't you been listening to me ? I don't want to have to kiss other guys ….this isn't Happy days but I got outvoted ."

" I don't like it either , Zo, but a peck on the cheek is still a kiss " said James , trying to be practical ," Us guys will be there to help so you don't have to worry about other guys trying stuff with you girls .

" That is sweet, James ,but I still hate the idea and don't want us to have to do it "

" I don't want to kiss other guys " protested Quinn, noticing the tension in Logan's jaw .

" I don't want my girl…," Logan cut himself off ," I mean, I don't want any of my friends who are girls to be slobbered on by most of the dudes at PCA."

" Aw we never knew you cared , Logan " smirked Lola, sarcasm in her tone .

" I don't "lied Logan, refraining from throwing a fit . He didn't want other dudes kissing Quinn ! He didn't want Quinn anywhere near the stupid kissing booth but the likelihood of her listening to him about this ..damn.

He knew that Quinn wouldn't go back on helping her friend even if she hated it .

" I think us guys all agree that its sexist too ," added Vince , playing with the bangles on Lola's arms ," but you girls are in charge . A little kiss on the cheek is still technically a kiss and the Dean cant argue that if he refuses to budge on the topic ."

" You are okay with other guys paying to kiss me , Vince ?' demanded Lola , who hadn't made any demands of her new boyfriend. They weren't asking the serious questions nor had they had the exclusive talk, it was unsaid between them .

" I am not but if they try to get fresh with my Hot Stuff , they will get a fist full of Vince Blake " said Vince as she leaned down to kiss him, softly .

" No violence ,Super Sexy Stuff " muttered Lola, as Quinn pretended to gag .

'' Lola, I just found out about the play," said an excited Lisa," why didn't you tell me it was a musical this year ? Miss. Neeson brought it up to me in dance class and I am really excited about it ."

Lola was puzzled ." Why ? Oh, are you offering to help me practice my singing , Lisa ? That would be so sweet of you ."

Michael made the realization first and grasped Lisa's hands, gently ." Lis , hun, maybe you should bring this up after we've hung out later ..way later ."

" Don't be silly, Mike ," said Lisa then continued ," I would be glad to help you , Lola, but I'm trying out for Desdemona too. Isnt that fun ? I thought we could practice together …"

The room grew quiet as Lola digested what Lisa had just told her and anger surfaced red-hot and super fast before her friends could head her off from her ranting and protesting .She took her acting serious and firmly believed she was the best actress at PCA.

Lisa was however a fantastic singer which made her competition for the role and the prospect of losing slim but still it wasn't good, at all.

" You cant try out for Desdemona, Lisa ! I am Desdemona ! I cant believe you would even want to try out - theatre isn't your life . Its mine ! "

" Lola ," started Quinn, trying to diffuse the tension," a little healthy competition never hurt anyone . You need to be reasonable and listen to Lisa …."

Lola gave her a dirty look that would have bothered anyone else but Quinn knew better .

" I don't have to be reasonable ," argued a put upon Lola , insulted," I am the actress here and Lisa isn't . Michael, will you tell your girlfriend she cant try out for my role ?"

Michael grew scared, raising his hands in front of him to ward off both women .

" Lola, I cant do that ," protested Michael , panic seeping in his tone noting the furious expression on his girlfriends face as well as Lola's. He was in deep trouble ," Lisa is her own woman . Can't you girls just be nice about this ? Its just one little play …you'll both be , you know, brilliant at it ."

" Desdemona isn't just a play ! it's a new , original version of it during the festival ! You might as well just walk away right now, Lisa, because the part is mine . You don't stand a chance against me " blurted out Lola, confidence in her tone even as she tamped down the part of her that was saying that singing wasn't her strong suit .

She had never worried about not getting a role and she wasn't going to start now .

Lisa clenched her fist and glared icily at the brunette . " I cant believe how immature you are being about this , Lola ! We are friends and I had thought you would be excited that I was trying out for this too ..guess I was very wrong ."

" Very wrong " Lola crossed her arms , perturbed .

" Girls, be reasonable ," offered Zoey, trying to help ," you're both acting silly ."

" She is acting silly, Zoey," corrected Lisa , hurt ," I'm not and I am not going to hang out and act as if everything is fine when Lola is clearly hating on me ! Come on, Michael , let's go get something to eat by ourselves "

Michael looked at his friends for help but Logan just shrugged . " I thought we were all going to get pizza tonight , Lisa ! "

" You and I can order pizza ," stated Lisa, fixing him with a knowing look ," or are you taking her side against me , Michael ?"

Panic rose again within Michael and he was afraid of answering this one . " No sides here ," swore Michael, with a nervous chuckle ," don't make me take sides because I don't want to have to so let's go get that pizza , lil Lisa ."

" Thank you " Lisa led him out of the lounge as Michael looked back mouthing ," cowards " to the rest of his friends .

" Whipped " commented Logan , to no one in particular .

" So, how many pizzas should we order ?" James broke the silence .

**********************************PCA************* *********

They wound up with three pizzas because the guys were starved from practice and ate in comfortable silence with the occasional comment from Zoey about the festival and Quinn trying to make everyone less on edge by explaining random facts about Hawaiian pizza .

" So , Vince , I have noticed you've stopped with the nicknames " brought up Quinn, curiously . It had ocured to her recently that the great Vince Blake had been known for coming up with awesome nicknames for people and she hadn't heard of him doing that these days . Maybe he had actually changed .

Vince smiled lightly at her ." I had hoped you guys would have forgotten about that ," said Vince , sheepishly ," it was cocky of me back then ..it might have been cool but it was all about the power for me . I called you Quinderella . Didn't I ?"

Quinn noticed Logan tense up next to her ." You did ."

" Lame " muttered Logan , under his breath .

Vince shot him a curious look. " I was a condensing jerk last year and the only cute nick names I want to come up with are for my girlfriend ."

" Which is perfect for me " Lola leaned in to kiss him , quickly .

" So does this Buddha stuff like work or is it just an act for sympathy ?" demanded Logan, without preamble .

" Logan ! " hissed Quinn, kicking him .

Zoey shot her an inquiring look but didn't say a word and waited for Vince's answer .

" I'm actually curious about that myself, Vince " added Zoey, politely .

" It isn't an act and it truly keeps me focused ," said a sincere Vince ," meditation does wonders for me . The old me would have been pissed about me and Logan competing for quarterback and even though I'm not real happy about it, I'm not trying to threaten or coerce so that I have my old position back . That isn't me anymore …."

Lola tugged his arm. " See how sweet he is "

" Yeah, well, you could just be blowing off smoke so the girls will like you "

" Why would he do that, Logan ?" asked James , handing Zoey another drink .

" To suck up to the rest of our friends that is why ! " insisted Logan, matter of fact .

Vince shrugged," I'm not but I cant make you believe me , Logan, if you still distrust me . Obviously you do but I meant what I said earlier, I am truly sorry I beat you up."

" Whatever " dismissed an uncomfortable Logan, shifting on the couch .

" Not that this isn't all fun and stuff, guys , but Zoey and I are going for a walk " announced James, feeling suffocated with the hanging out this evening . He was picking up on too many weird vibes between everyone and thought some quality time with his girlfriend to settle things might be in the cards instead of pizza and awkwardness .

" A walk ?" questioned Zoey, drinking her apple berry Blix.

" Alone time for us " volunteered a hopeful James , reaching for her hand .

No one noticed the wistful expression on Quinn's face or the longing look that Logan stole towards Quinn as James and Zoey left the lounge for much needed romance .

" Well that sounds cozy " Lola broke the silence ," let's watch a movie ."

***************************PCA******************** ********************

The moon hung low in the night sky as James led Zoey outside , taking her hand to prevent her from waving at everyone she knew on campus and led her to the secluded patio on the other side of Fulton Hall .

The fact that Zoey was so quiet bothered him because normally she wasn't subdued .

" Here we are ….my lady " James led her to the outdoor patio sofa and they sat together ," hope this is alright . I didn't think you were really into the hate on Vince party either and we havent exactly had time to talk since our fight , Zoey."

" I don't hate Vince exactly ," replied Zoey, breaking the silence between them," Quinn and I are just looking out for Lola. She does crushes but she hasn't really been into a guy since ..well, it was a long time ago …with Chase but they turned out better as friends ."

" Lola and Chase ? Man, how popular was the guy ? " muttered James, under his breath.

Zoey frowned ." It didn't work out between them ," informed Zoey, recalling how jealous she had been when Lola announced she was into him . It seemed as if it had been forever ago that had happened ," and Chase is a nice guy. Why are we talking about Chase ? I thought that you wanted to be alone with me, James ."

" I do," James sighed and put an arm around her ," Zoey, I'm trying to be mature here . You've been upfront with me since we started dating but I have to be honest with you now …or else I'm going to lose my mind."

" I don't understand , James " confessed Zoey because she truly didn't .She had been doing her best to be the attentive girlfriend to him and not obsess over the state of her punctured friendship with Chase .

" I'm having a problem with Chase ," confessed James , blowing out a breath he didn't remember holding ," he is everywhere and he isn't even here . Every story Michael and Logan talk about involve him and you..you act all different when his name is brought up. Much as I hate to say it, I don't like it and I feel quite jealous . "

He stood , weighing his words ." Am I right to be jealous of him , Zo?"

Zoey gulped the lump lodged in her throat and smoothed her lips together in a tight line .

How was she supposed to answer that ?

She wasn't even sure of her own feelings these days and thinking about Chase just compounded everything in her mind and her heart .

Love was much easier within the pages of a love story than in real life .

" Chase is my best friend , my best guy friend, James ," reassured Zoey, blindly ," I've told you that. My last talk with Chase was weird and its never been that before so maybe I'm projecting my insecurities over that on you but you shouldn't be jealous of him."

" So, you are sure you still want to be with me ?' asked James , blue eyes intent on her.

" James, stop it ," Zoey shook her head ," I'm with you . Not to mention , it is silly of you to be jealous of Chase and if he were here, he would tell you exactly the same thing ."

" You know what he thinks ?"

" Not always " confessed Zoey, quietly ," not anymore . Come on, I thought we were going to make with the kissing and not the past ? "

" Only if Chase is really in the past …." brought up James , wanting desperately to believe her and yet one part of him felt like she was trying to convince them both .

Yet he loved her , had loved her since she had kissed him that first time , and clung to the hope that she loved him back or would eventually return his love .

Maybe if he held out a while longer , Chase would fade into the background and not be an issue . He didn't want to break up with Zoey , couldn't break his own heart , yet it felt more often than not that Zoey was just pretending with him.

" James …."

She wound her arms around his neck, drawing him into a deep kiss that stopped the endless barrage of doubts playing in his head, as he gave into her and the love he had for one Zoey Brooks . Zoey was with him, she was kissing him, and that was the here and the now and for right now , that was all that James needed to be happy.

He would hold on tight to Zoey and make her forget all about Chase Matthews .


	14. Chapter 14

While Zoey juggled school, Harvest festival preparations , and roommate drama as Lola was still feuding with Lisa over the 'Desdemona ' role and nothing she and Quinn could say to her was having any affect on the actress much to their dismay, she was also dedicating a lot of her time to her relationship with James , desperately wanting to prevent it from fizzling as Quinn and Mark had a month prior .

" What's up, Zoey ?' asked Michael, dropping down beside her at their usual lunch table and taking a swig of his orange Blix ," How goes the festival planning?"

Zoey blew out a breath, her gold dangly earrings jangling as she moved and shook her head . " Well, the dance planning is coming along even though finding a band to play is more difficult than I expected ," brought up a frustrated Zoey," how's Lisa ? She could probably sit with us today ..Lola is running lines with Vince today ."

" Lisa is still really mad at Lola ," admitted Michael , with a groan, " I tried to talk to her about it because I think it's crazy . You think its crazy too . Right ?"

" Crazy ," agreed a solemn Zoey ," I love Lola dearly but I think competitions freak her out . Quinn thinks she's afraid that Lisa is going to win the part instead of Lola and somehow that messes up with the whole Oscar by the time she is 19 thing …."

" Nuts ," contributed Michael, taking a bite of his hamburger ," Lisa doesn't usually get mad that often so I think she more hurt than mad but the girl can't see straight cause of what Lola said to her . I don't want to take sides , Zoey, I don't want to die ."

" Lola and Lisa wouldn't do that to you " scolded Zoey, munching on a grape .

Idly she thought of Chase and imagined how he would react to this predicament .

" They are doing it to me ," mumbled Michael, under his breath ," I don't want hit by Lola or by my Lil Lisa ….we all know Lola is an amazing actress but my Lisa sings like an angel. Her acting is pretty good too…I wish those darn auditions were done and over with so I can breathe normal again ."

" Is he still talking about the feuding Lisa and Lola ?" asked James , joining them and leaning down to kiss his girlfriend ," hi "

Zoey beamed at him. " I'm all tapped out on helpful advice since Lola is being impossible . Quinn isn't even getting thru to her.."

James sat down beside her ." Lock them in a closet together ?"

" Hahaha , Lisa would never speak to me again " said Michael , " hey where is Quinn ?"

" I think she's in the science lab working on another experiment " answered Zoey ," which is actually a relief . I think she is finally really over Mark .."

" Logan isn't having lunch with us ?" brought up James , curiously , noticing that his other roommate wasn't present at their normal table this afternoon..

Michael shrugged ." I think he's working on another one of his bimbo's ," deduced Michael, with a wide grin," Logan has been acting stranger and stranger . I betcha he is giving Alyssa the sly Logan Reese game play to make her want him ."

" That is sick and gross " Zoey made a face disgusted by Logan's so called dating habits.

" True but Alyssa is super hot "

He and James were still convinced the bimbo of the week was the Alyssa .

" She is hot ," added James earning him a disapproving glare from Zoey," though I think Logan is horrible with the three dates a week ." He frowned , thinking ," I haven't actually seen him hanging over any of his usual girls though ."

" He's getting more private, I bet " contributed Michael , impressed nonetheless .

" You guys are gross ," Zoey stood and rolled her eyes upwards," I'm going to go look for bands that don't suck or want more than $300 to play the dance ."

************************HA************************ *****************

Meanwhile in the science lab, Quinn adjusted her goggles , carefully measuring the chemicals into the beakers with a trained eye and hoped her third attempt at a mild nerve gas went along much better . After releasing dangerous toxins into the air a few times her roommates , not to mention Dean Rivers , had been insistent on the no more quarantine things in her dorm room. Given the affects hadn't been harmful to them and it hadn't been that horrendous but rather than listen to another long winded lecture or her friends dramatics, she was in the lab to placate them .

She filled a vial and capped the lid just as a light tap sounded on the door bringing in her boyfriend of a month.

" Hey "

Her face lit up at the sight of him making her smile . " Logan , I thought you were eating lunch with the gang "

He closed the door behind him , lifted her goggles and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth .

" You look cute with the goggles, Quinn "

" Ooooh " Quinn felt her heart tumble around and removed the goggles ," Logan, people might see us in here together ."

He rolled his eyes at her ." Who, Pensky ? You're the only nerd in here and besides I couldn't wait to tell you what I got on my history paper "

Nerve gas was forgotten as Quinn turned to face her boyfriend, anxious for him .

He had actually been working hard on his classes this year and with her tutelage, she just knew he was doing so much better . She gripped the front of his shirt .

" Logan, tell me ! How did you do ? What did you get ? Don't keep me in suspense "

Logan laughed , feeling like he could do anything with her by his side .

God, she made him so much better than he was and he was amazing but with Quinn, he was smart . She believed he was smart and he believed her .

" I got a B "

" Oh my God, Logan , a B ? I am so proud of you ! I knew you could do it if you studied and you did ! " Quinn wrapped her arms around his neck ," see, I knew you were smart ."

" Smart and handsome , don't forget " Logan nuzzled her neck ,"come on, lets go make out before I have to go to football practice . You gonna come see me ?"

Quinn bit her bottom lip. " Oh Logan, don't tempt me . I really want to finish this up so I can go cheer you on at practice ."

He held onto her waist , tightly and frowned ." Can't you work on it later ?"

Quinn thwacked his arm. " No, I can't ," countered Quinn, amused by his disappointed face which really was cute ," Zoey and Lola get a little testy at me if I make any more nerve gas in our room . Don't pout , Logan, I wont be that long and I promise I'll be watching you pummel those guys to the ground and be duly impressed by your strength ."

Logan groaned . " Are you mocking me ?"

" No , you big baby ," Quinn kissed him again ," you know I love spending time with you but I really want to finish this up now go before you distract me some more ."

He grinned , sexily at her . " You know you want these lips "

" Go ! I promise I will see you in a few hours , Logan ! " says Quinn, slipping her goggles back on over her glasses and trying to refocus on her work at hand .

When she was with Logan it was easy to get distracted by his presence and being with him made her incredibly happy .

" Fine but we are so making out after practice " muttered Logan, under his breath as he left the lab and the science building , his mind still on his hot girlfriend as he made the trek across the campus to grab a bite to eat and maybe hang out with his friends before it was time for practice.

He was grabbing a Blix when the shadow of one Bart Emerson fell over him .

" Reese , how's it going ? " Bart was amiable though he expression was anything but as he clamped a hand on Logan's shoulder ," you've had that stupid grin on your face for weeks now . The little nerd must be a hot one in the sack …"

Logan bit the inside of his jaw and advanced on the hockey player . " It isn't like that with me and Quinn ," warned Logan, getting in his face, " I told you not to talk lies about her , Emerson , unless you have a death wish ."

He clenched his fist ." Don't talk crap about my girl or I will make you regret it ."

" You don't scare me, Reese , but that's okay , you humor me ," said Bart , rocking on his heels ," Pensky must be wild if your threatening to beat me up but the thing is I am a little short on cash this week . Not to mention I booked a room at that spiffy hotel up the coast for me and my date …help me out here so I don't let all of PCA know that your screwing the science nerd ."

Anger bubbled to the surface and Logan fought an inner battle to tamp it down even though he wanted to beat the crap out of this jackass but he was trying to be the better man these days and getting detention wouldn't help him with that .

He hated to give in to the stupid blackmail but what could he do ? It was about Quinn and her reputation as as a scientist was important to her , he didn't want anything to taint what she worked hard on so he could suck it up to protect his girl .

" Quinn and I are dating " corrected Logan , pulling out his wallet and grudgingly handing him three hundred dollars ," and you heard what I said , Emerson . You had better not breathe a word to anyone on campus because if I find out that you have , you will pay ."

Bart took the money , tucking it in his jeans pockets . " Whatever you say, man, and thanks for the cash ," said Bart with a slight nod ," you tell Pensky hi for me."

Groaning furiously , fists clenched at his side , Logan forced himself not to scream and attack the dude as Bart ambled away laughing at him with his three hundred bucks .

***********************************PCA************ **********************

The Lounge

" Do I sound pitchy ? I bet Lisa doesn't sound pitchy ," whined Lola, her cowboy boots clicking across the floor ," why would anyone want to sing Shakespeare ? I just don't understand it ….I learned a perfect British accent in a few days so I can be a amazing singer in that same amount of time ."

Vince reached for Lola, pulling her on his lap ." Lola, I know we've only been dating for a short time ," brought up a cautionary Vince ," but is it possible that you are going a bit overboard for this audition . Have any of your other friends ever competed against you for a part in a play ?"

He knew he was treading on dangerous ground here but Vince felt like it was a fair question. Vince was working hard on turning over a new leaf, being a pacifist wasn't always easy sometimes but living in the calm he was growing accustomed to and enjoyed it . He was pretty sure that if his girlfriend wanted to commit violence over a play that he should be that guy to bring her back to earth .

Lola gave him a withering look ." No," dismissed Lola as if it was a absurd question," you've met my friends. Zoey leads in practically everything on campus and Quinn is a scientist , Michael and Logan are into sports , and you think I'm overreacting ? "

Vince rested his chin on her shoulder ." Maybe a little bit …."

Lola bit her bottom lip, afraid to express her own deep seeded fear because if she spoke of it then what if it came true ? She wouldn't be able to bear it if that happened .

" I've always beaten out the competition for everything I've tried out at here, Vince ," admitted Lola , tracing circles on his PCA football jersey with her fingernails," I cannot let Lisa win , she cant beat me for Desdemona ."

" Isn't rejection part of the acting process ?" asked Vince , smiling warmly at her .

" Yeah but it shouldn't be a part of mine ," declared a matter of fact Lola , trying to make him understand why it was impossible ," I have goals , Vince . Oscar by 19 and I even allowed a year ..see, I can adapt it used to be 18 but I gave myself an extra year ."

" That's awesome, Gorgeous , but I just don't want you to mess up your friendship with Lisa or make it anymore awkward than it already is for you "

" You are the sweetest boyfriend ever, Vince , but Lisa should just drop out of the whole audition and it wouldn't be a problem "

" I don't think that is fair to expect Lisa to do that " replied an honest Vince , sliding an arm around her waist ," and I don't think that you should when she has ever right to audition too . You're supposed to be her friend ….."

Lola frowned as his words sunk in and she searched his face looking for some signs that he was joking but it appeared that he was being serious . She didn't know if she should be mad at him for it or if she should actually listen to his advice .

" I thought you were on my side ?" pouted Lola , dropping her hands from his chest .

" I am but I don't want you to regret this or lose a friend ," Vince was thoughtful ," being virtually friendless isn't something I want for my girlfriend, Lola . It isn't any fun either and can be pretty lonely when people who used to be your friend hates you and you know I speak from my own personal experience here ."

" I know ….I'll think about what you said " Lola dropped a light kiss against his mouth ," are the guys still being stupid and immature to you ? "

" I have a few classes with James ," admitted Vince , glad that she had brought it up," I was ambivalent since he rooms with Michael and Logan but he is a nice guy . We've talked and I actually think he and I may be friends …and Michael is super polite ."

" Michael can be an idiot but he isn't mean and Logan is stupid " countered Lola.

" It's progress and I will take it ," said Vince ," and Logan hasn't threatened to beat me up and I haven't heard anything else about the comeuppance so I think its as good as it gets ."

" The idiots gave up on the whole comeuppance thing "

" Always nice to know ," Vince kissed her cheek ," you gonna come be my own personal cheerleader at practice today ?"

" Yay Vince ! " Lola lowered her lips to his, thinking it was possible that she might be actually be falling for the guy and that was just fine with her .

***************************************PCA******** *********************

" Are you sure you don't want to come with me to watch the guys practice, Zoey ?" inquired Lola, as she fixed the blonde with a nosy look as she was sitting cross -legged on her bed, laptop up and working more on the festival plans as if it was the end of the world or something . She was in total avoidance mode , for sure .

" No, I cant , " explained Zoey, simply ," I have a million things to do before the festival kicks off this week . Will you help decorate the gym for the dance ?"

Lola considered this for a minute ." You know I don't do work , Zoey …"

" You can bring Vince and he can hang decorations " dropped Zoey, knowing better .

Lola wasn't completely lazy , she just liked to throw herself into projects that had a dramatic flair and putting up streamers she knew wasn't exciting but when it came down to it, she would be there to help her out .

" We'll be glad to help ," beamed Lola, smoothing her mini-skirt and analyzing her purple tank top ," I really should have stole Vince's jersey ..oh well, I still look pretty cute . So is James going to come help you with the festival stuff or are you still avoiding him like the plague ?"

Zoey closed the laptop with a sigh , her gaze distracted by the picture of her and Chase their sophomore year mugging for the camera . She had forgotten the picture was tucked in the corner of her collage on the wall and forced her thoughts to her actual boyfriend .

" I am not avoiding anyone , let alone my boyfriend ," assured Zoey," James and I made up. We're fine ..he has been busy and I'm super busy is all , Lola ."

Lola sat down on the edge of the bed ." Then why do you seem sad , Zoey ? "

Zoey's smile was thin ." I'm not ," insisted Zoey ," now go and root for the guys for me ."

" I get it , you wont tell me ," Lola grabbed her bag and phone ," and I wont bug the truth out of you . I'll wait until Quinn gets back .." She looked around the dorm room as if expecting her best friend to suddenly materialize ," I thought she'd be done by now ."

" She probably just lost track of time like she does when she works on her Quinnventions " dismissed a knowing Zoey," if she doesn't show up in an hour, I'll call her and drag her away from the science lab ."

" Good plan ," agreed Lola, musing ," have you noticed that Quinn is acting weirder than usual ? Like I think there is a guy she likes and isn't telling …"

" I considered that too actually ," agreed Zoey, glad they were on the same train of thought especially since the guys were no help on the topic," Quinn has been acting really happy lately . Not that I want her to be sad but her science stuff usually doesn't make her have that look in her eyes like she does …right ?"

" Exactly ! I'll work on getting the name out of Quinn later ," declared Lola ," now I have to go and be the supportive girlfriend for Vince ." She tossed her dark hair off of her shoulders ," Plus keep those little skanky bimbos off of my honey ."

" Have fun with that " encouraged Zoey, going back to designing the booth for the dreaded kissing booth and sending off a cheerful text to James .

He really was the perfect boyfriend and she was lucky to have him .

**********************************PCA************* *********************

The football field and bleachers was on the other side of campus past the tennis courts and the admin building making it a bit more secluded with a nice cove of trees shading the area . Coach Keller already had the guys running through some plays out on the field while the gaggle of PCA cheerleaders shook their booties and encouraged them on with the latest in their newest cheers .

Quinn stood along the edge of the fence, watching as Logan vied with Vince to retrieve the ball and couldn't help but feel a stirring of something unfamiliar within her . Maybe it with the incredibly tight pants or the way that Logan took control on the field but she found him even more hotter than usual and was so glad he was her boyfriend .

" Way to go Logan ! Way to go ! " shouted blonde haired Mandy Franklin, winking at him and shaking her little purple skirt flirtatiously at him.

Quinn wanted to zap her into the next millennium .

Fervently scanning the crowd in the stands for anyone who might make something out of what she was about to do, Quinn realized it was a handful of random students from Stacy Dilson , some of the random football followers , and most of the school skanks .

" Come on, Logan ! " hollered Quinn, leaning across the fence just as Lola noticed her and joined her ," come on , Michael ! Go guys ! "

Logan caught her eye , sending her a crooked smile then turned away but not before Vince searched the crowd , nodding slightly .

" Quinn, what are you doing here ? Zo and I thought you were still in the lab "

" I was but I needed some fresh air ," brought up Quinn, thinking fast on her feet ," I thought I'd come out and you know root for the guys . "

" Cool " Lola leaned in, waving her hand, " Go Vince ! "

Vince spotted her and blew her a kiss which earned him some ribbing and laughter from his fellow teammates that didn't know what to make out of this new and supposedly improved Vince Blake .

" Man, Lola has you whipped badly " added Michael with a chuckle , forgetting he wasn't supposed to like the dude ," blowing her kisses is lame ."

" She's exciting and wonderful ," answered Vince, truthfully ," I don't care and she loves stuff like that …so, I don't see Lisa out there ."

Michael frowned and glanced around spotting Quinn and Lola but no Lisa.

" She must be running late ," answered a nonchalant Michael ," my lil Lisa is always cheering me on but you know it is just a practice . It's possible she got caught up in homework or something else ."

" Shut up , you ladies ," shouted the Coach, glaring at Michael and Vince ," no one cares about your stupid girl drama. Blake, try to get that ball from Reese ! "

In the stands , Lola sent some filthy looks towards the cheerleaders to ward them off from getting any ideas about coming onto her boyfriend then whistled at Vince .

" Some pretty cute guys out on the field , Quinn," brought up Lola , lifting a elegant brow ," got your eye on anyone in particular ?"

Quinn swallowed and laughed , nervously ." Why would you say that , Lola ? I don't like jocks …really you think I want some brawny football player ..I don't think so."

" You are too picky, Quinn, and I happen to know there are guys on this campus who would love to go out with you "

Quinn refrained from telling her that she had the guy she wanted but that would ruin the entire dating in secret thing she and Logan had going . This was starting to get difficult .

She loved her friends but she didn't want to get dragged into some matchmaking scheme of Lola's either and she knew her friend well enough to know it was coming .

" I am quite content by myself, Lola " reassured Quinn, flatly .

" A cute guy might make you happy " Lola tried again," you cant kiss one of your inventions, Quinn. You like kissing as much as the next girl so don't even try to argue with me because I so know you do ! "

Quinn heaved a sigh. Darn Lola and her stubbornness !

" That isn't the point ! I don't want a new guy ! "

" Hey , did I miss anything , girls ?" inquired Lisa, stopping to join the girls by the fence and unbeknownst to her saving the scientist from having to answer Lola .

" Lisa am I happy to see you ! " enthused Quinn, happily .

" Michael ! Michael ," shouted Lisa , waving from the stands until he noticed her ," Michael , I'm here and I love you ! "

On the field , Michael grinned like a loon. " That's my lil Lisa "

Tension crackled between Lisa and Lola though the actress did her best not to let it get to her . Vince's words taunted her along with the fixed look Quinn shot at her for her rudeness making her feel almost like a bad person . It would all blow over once the auditions were done and over with next week.

Things could return to normal as well as her and Lisa .

" How are the guys looking ? Do you think we stand a chance this year with Vince back on the team ?" wondered Lisa as their football team wasn't the strongest after Vince had been expelled .

" Maybe ," mused Quinn, softly ," Logan has improved so much . I mean, I don't like him but he's really gotten stronger this year since they made him quarterback ."

" Don't let Logan hear you say that, his head is big enough as it is , Quinn " told Lola in disbelief ," besides with Vince the team is already back to awesomeness ."

" Michael has been working hard too," Lisa chimed in , meeting Lola's gaze ," it shows in their practices . They are sucking less this year which is good ."

" Because of my boyfriend " declared Lola, lifting her chin .

" I am not going to do the my boyfriend is better than yours thing with you, Lola, so don't even goad me " accused Lisa , narrowing her eyes at the actress .

" Your boyfriend is one of my best guy friends so you know I would never insult Michael ! You're the one starting new crap with me , Lisa ! "

" Will you two stop fighting ! We're supposed to be watching our guys ! " Quinn shouted at them both, unaware of her little slip then turned her attention back to the game as Vince knocked the wind out of Logan , knocking him to the ground , hard .

She forgot herself immediately , leaning forward, fear coursing through her watching as Michael and Vince helped him up. " LOGAN! "

" Is he alright ?" wondered Lisa, distracted by the happenings on the field .

They all ragged on Logan for sport but he was their friend and no one wanted to see him hurt . The girls put aside their differences to watch as the Coach yanked the helmet off of the rich guy and fired off questions at him, none of which they could hear from the stands .

Quinn felt her heart beating rapidly and it was all that she could do not to run out there and check on her boyfriend herself !

Lola put a hand at her forehead and scanned the field ." He's standing and I don't think there is blood ..Vince isn't violent anymore , I told you that ."

" Because ramming Logan to the ground is so violent ! " muttered Quinn, knowing she wasn't making any sense but worried about Logan nonetheless.

Both girls gave her a weird look. " That is part of football "

Coach Keller announced the end of practice and the crowd in the stands watched as the players ambled off the field , while Michael , Logan, and Vince made their way over to the girls before heading to the locker room .

" I didn't mean to knock the breath out of you, Logan ," insisted Vince ," I put too much oomph into it . You sure your alright , man ?"

Logan groaned and nodded ." I'm not hurt , you caught me by surprise . It's cool , dude , so stop with the apologizing already .."

" As long as we're cool " agreed Vince , moving beside Lola and dropping a light kiss on her mouth ," there's my good luck girl ."

" Handsome boy " Lola kissed him again," ew , you need a shower , Vince , your all smelly and gross ."

" The rigors of football ," said a rueful Vince , touching her arm ," how about I walk you back before I hit the showers then we grab a bite to eat in the lounge ?"

" Sounds like my kind of plan " Lola took his arm and they headed back, as Vince caught the tender look Logan exchanged with a pretty Quinn, who blushed .

Hmm, interesting .

Michael slung an arm around Lisa's shoulder and kissed her , deeply . " Were you being good over here ? I don't want to have to worry about breaking up a catfight between you and Lola, honey ."

" Honey ?' inquired an amused Lisa , touching his cheek .

" I am trying out nicknames for you and being more romantic " stated Michael as if she should already know . Hadn't she been the one to bring up the staleness of their relationship ? He was trying to make them fresh and romantic for her .

Lisa needed to be more understanding of a man trying his darnest for her .

" Is that what it is ? " Lisa couldn't help but to laugh at him," Lola and I behaved to answer your question though she is still being rude but I can be mature , Mike ."

" They barely behaved , Michael " added Quinn, moving closer to touch Logan's arm.

" You girls are really going to kill me ! Come on, let me grab a shower and change then I'll take you out for some spaghetti for supper "

" I'm not eating pasta this week ," said Lisa , hugging his arm," but I am dying for a veggie pizza , Michael ."

Michael bit his tongue about her silly diets , pasted a wide grin on his mouth, and nodded As long as he never uttered the word fat in any sentence to her, he could deal with the latest diet of the week . " Pizza it is ," Michael looked at an unusually quiet Logan and Quinn with a dubious expression ," you two want to join us ? Or are you horning in with Vince and Lola tonight ?"

" I ..I have plans that aren't with her ,' stammered Logan , wildly ,' because you know I hate her ..Pensky, I mean ."

Quinn scrunched up her nose at him. " Your such a jerk ."

" Let's go, Michael " Lisa led him away and they trekked across the campus .

Once they were out of sight, Logan dropped his helmet, grabbed Quinn's arm and pulled her behind the bleachers for privacy. She through her arms around his neck, holding him close and breathing in the masuscaline scent of her boyfriend as his arms closed around her waist .

" Are you alright ? Why are you breathing so hard , Logan ? Don't be such a guy …with all the stupid male pride and ego , did he hurt you ? I was so freaking out , Logan, which is ridiculous because I know you have padding and protection but my heart nearly collapsed when he rammed you in the stomach "

It was possible in that moment that Logan fell in love with Quinn Pensky right now .

His heart raced loudly in his chest, his smile honest and soft as he felt her melt in his arms as he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her gently, and with a certainty that she belonged to him. Logan pressed a kiss alongside her mouth then the slope of her jaw then breathed her in, feeling like it was a nearly perfect moment .

" I'm fine, Quinn" reassured Logan , holding her close ," I swear, I just got the wind knocked out of me so don't be planning brain surgery or anything for me, babe . You were really freaking out over me ?'

" Yes ! Don't gloat " Quinn leaned into him," I've always believed that football was moronic and barbaric which it still is but there is something a primitive and rugged about watching you play it that appeals to me ."

" I turn you on, eh ?" Logan flashed her a sexy grin.

" Maybe ," teased Quinn, playing with his copper curls at the nape of his neck ," I mean, hot and sweaty isn't really attractive or it used to not be but on you, it is kind of hot ."

" I make gross hot "

Quinn giggled and kissed him, slowly ." Logan, we need to get back before our friends start to wonder what happened to the both of us and I honestly don't know what we could tell them at the moment ."

"Maybe ..we should , you know, tell them " hesitated Logan, watching as she let him go and stared incredulously at him .

" You cant be serious ? We talked about this and right now, it wouldn't be good for us to tell our friends about our relationship ," murmured Quinn, quietly ," it's too soon ."

Logan shrugged ." Yeah, yeah, I know about the abuse but it was just a thought "

" I know and its sweet but we cant " says Quinn, smiling lovingly at him," there is too much going on to just tell everyone we're together , Logan ."

" The stupid feud and everything , I know " said a pensive Logan, reaching for her hand ," come on, I need a shower and change . You want to sneak off for supper together ?"

" I'd love too " Quinn leaned in, caught his face in her hands and kissed him with everything she was feeling ," call me , baby . I'm going to go make up excuses to Zoey about why I cant have sushi with her ..bye ."

Logan held her waist a little bit longer than was necessary then let go of her, watching as she strode purposely across the campus and sighed under his breath .

God, he missed having her in his arms and he was totally crazy about her .

*************************************PCA********** *****************

By the time that Logan got to the locker room, it had pretty much cleared out , most of the team was finishing up getting dressed and heading back to their respective lives and Michael was no where to be seen , which meant he was already out having food with Lisa .

Logan showered and changed into a pair of jeans and was pulling on his jersey , thinking how sexy his girl would look in it and debating on how he could go about making it possible without arousing suspicion . People might talk if she wore his jersey which was bad but on the other hand he wanted her to wear his jersey ..maybe she could wear it when they were alone together , like she wore his ring .

Lost in his Quinn dreams, he never noticed Vince approach him and lean against the locker . " Hey man, you got a minute to talk ?"

Logan rolled his eyes, not happy with being interrupted ." Sure but I already told you I'm no lightweight and its not like you knocked me out, dude . It's cool , I'm cool ."

" I appreciate that but that isn't what I wanted to talk about " broached Vince , casually .

" Lola is insane but your dating her so you should have figured that out ," said a good natured Logan ," look I've got plans so whatever it is , Blake, just spill it ."

" How long have you been with Quinn ? "

Logan sank to the bench with a deep sigh. " Damn ."


	15. Chapter 15

" How long have you been with Quinn?"

Logan sank to the bench with a deep sigh." Damn."

He swore under his breath, anger pulsating in his veins as he fought back the urge to pummel Vince Blake to the ground but tamped it down knowing it wouldn't solve anything . Oh he would enjoy giving the former bully a well deserved beating and the comeuppance of it all but given the circumstances it would probably backfire on him then Quinn would kill him .

" Who the hell told you? What kind of crap did you hear about me and Quinn? Bart blabbed , didn't he ? That son of a bitch is going to regret screwing with Logan Reese when I'm done destroying him "

He dragged a hand roughly through his copper curls and fixed Vince with a menacing look that had sent many a nerd running scared through PCA but Vince didn't appear to be afraid or intimidated in the least which really bothered Logan.

" Yeah I don't know what you heard but its true, I am with Quinn. She is my girlfriend and we are dating each other because we like each other . What do you want from me , Blake ? My spot on the team ? That's it isn't it ? This is just a slimy way for you to totally get quarterback again …"

" No "

Vince counted to ten, took calm measured breaths , tempered his own emotions which probably weren't far off from Logan's anger and then spoke ,carefully .

" First, no one told me about you and Quinn because its very obvious that you two are with each other ."

Logan scratched the back of his neck." Oh crap ! What do you mean obvious we're together ? I mean, Quinn and I hate each other …we fight all of the time so how is it even possible for you to think me and her are obvious ?"

A thin smile played across the football players face at the stunned expression on Logan's face .

" It might be because of the way you two look at each other when you don't think none of your friends are watching ," explained Vince, simply ," I knew you guys were together the other night in the lounge what with the way you kept touching her leg and she kept trying not to touch your arm. Kind of gave you guys away or at least I caught on easily enough .."

" So you didn't buy the fighting at all ? Quinn was sure that our friends would totally get us hating on each other since we actually did for years ..' trailed off Logan, thinking his girlfriends plan should have been full proof .

" The rest of your friends might buy the fighting though I don't understand how myself "

This secrecy thing was getting much more difficult and complicated to handle . How was he supposed to explain to Quinn that Lola's new boyfriend knew about them ?

She was going to freak out, for sure .

" This is really , really bad " muttered Logan, starting to pace back and forth .

" Why is it such a big secret about you and Quinn ? I admit that I am not your girlfriends favorite person but she seems like a great girl so other than you being a jerk, why are you dating in secret ?"

Logan didn't know to explain it to someone who wasn't one of his good friends but the guy wasn't making demands on him or threatening Quinn so he took it as a positive sign that coming clean was the best thing to do right now .

" Quinn is great ," stated Logan, his brown eyes sparking as he thought of his girlfriend ," it isn't like we planned to have all these feelings for each other , they, us , me and Quinn just sort of happened . We've actually been together a month and we knew if we told people about us , we'd get tons of abuse from everyone and neither of us want to risk all that negative crap causing problems in our relationship so secret ."

Vince arched a brow ." You think it would be that bad ?"

" Hottest , richest guy on campus dating the beautiful , science nerd " explained Logan," the gossips here at PCA are vicious , man. Have you recovered from the abuse yet ?"

" Aha and no, I am still the dirt bag who cheated and beat up you guys ," sighed Vince, understanding ," though I like to think that people here are willing to give me a chance to prove that I'm not that guy anymore . I have changed …"

" So let's just have it out and be done with ," replied Logan , curious as to what Vince would want from him. Emerson wanted his cash ," I have to meet Quinn later and I still need time to set some things up for her so spill it, Blake . What's it going to take to make you keep your trap shut about me and Quinn ?"

Vince rubbed his hands together , trying not to be offended as he knew he still had long strides to go before he was accepted wholeheartedly within his girlfriends group .

" Whoa there, buddy , " Vince held up his palms as if to stop him ," I don't want to blackmail you or anything from you . I'm not that guy anymore and I don't want to be ..I'm not a jerk anymore and I sort of sensed that maybe your changing too, Logan ."

Logan lifted a chin, arrogance across his features then as he thought of Quinn's high pitched giggle that always made him smile and the those brown eyes that fascinated him and felt himself softening . " I am a jerk but if I'm changing it's because of Quinn, you know, having her in my life makes me want to be better for her ."

" I knew we had something in common ," contributed Vince, " I feel pretty much the same way about Lola , who is the cutest, sexiest girl I've ever met in my life ."

Logan pretended to gag. " Gross , I don't want to hear about Lola . Your girlfriend hates my guts and I am no fan of hers either so if you aren't going to blackmail me then what is the deal ? You want cash ? Borrow my car ? Bond like a bunch of girls over this …"

Vince chuckled ." The cash is tempting but I'm kidding ," declared Vince before the rich dude could reach for his wallet ," can you maybe cut me some slack and we can hang out ? Work on the friends thing ? I mean, we're on the team together , our girls are best friends and we have some classes together and the hate is getting old ."

Logan considered this and realized it did sound reasonable ." Fine , it's a deal ," agreed a serious Logan," but you cant tell Lola or anyone about me and Quinn. I don't even know how I am going to tell Quinn that you know about us and no guarantees she wont go after you with her zap watch or anything …"

" Understood " The two young men shook hands on it ," look I get the whole gossip and abuse but it escapes me why you feel like you cant tell your friends . I mean, Lola has theories about Quinn now and eventually she is going to figure out that you are the guy her best friend is dating ."

" Because Quinn and I actually care about what our friends think about us ," admitted Logan, knowing it was true ," they'll all worry that I'll hurt Quinn or that she's lost her mind for being with me . Just make sure Lola doesn't figure it out ."

" I'll do what I can …"

Logan sighed heavily and grabbed his backpack. " I gotta go now , see you ."

As Logan headed out of the locker room hoping Dustin had done the errands he asked of him, Vince went back to their earlier conversation .

" Wait, Reese , what did you mean about Bart ?"

But the rich boy was already gone and Vince was afraid to open up a new can of worms .

He just hoped that this new tentative friendship with Logan panned out for them all .

*********************************PCA************** *********************

Dustin had been glad for the extra work from Logan and was shocked when the rich jerk had even asked him to set up the rooftop of Maxwell Hall for him even going as far as saying please and thanks , which coming from him was something else . Maybe it was that Logan was maturing or that rooming with Michael and Chase was making him nicer , which was odd but he could deal with this new and improved Logan Reese over the screaming jerk any day .

He surveyed the blankets that he had carried to the roof with a curious eye as well as the candles and wondered what it was all about .

The door opened bringing in Logan who glanced at the pile , hands on his hips, and nodded . " Hey Dustin, did you get everything ?"

" Lounge chair, blankets, twenty candles , and the picnic stuff ," answered the teen ," I got it but you never said what you wanted me to do with it ."

" Cool, thanks, " Logan handed him a twenty dollar bill ," I 've got it from here ."

" Thanks, man, " smiled Dustin, curiously," so what is all this stuff for ?"

" That is none of your business , Dustin, but you did good now leave " ordered Logan, not unkindly as he began to arrange the candles just so ," I mean NOW ."

" Is this all for a girl ?"

" Dustin, get out and shut up about this ! " called Logan as the younger teenager left the rooftop , shaking his head at the strangeness of the rich boy .

He busied himself arranging candles, spreading out the green blanket just so and chilling the Blix's , wishing he had thought to bring Quinn a flower but he could do that another time .He couldn't think of everything and he hoped she would be surprised by his surprise .

Thank God , kids never came up here anymore and it was the perfect place for them to be alone together .

A half hour later, Quinn crept suspiciously to the rooftop of the boys dorm , peeking her head outside the door as a small smile touched her pink lips as she noticed the candles flickering in the moonlight , a soft ballad playing on a hidden MP3 player , and a blanket spread out on the ground for a picnic.

" Logan "

" Happy Anniversary , Quinn " Logan stepped out of the shadows , drew her into his arms and into a dreamy kiss that had her melting against him and that went on and on until they both broke the kiss to come up for much needed air .

Her brown eyes lit up at him, touched that he would go to this much trouble for her .

" You did all of this for me ?"

" Yea ," told Logan , giving her a goofy smile ," how romantic am I ?"

" It's very romantic but are you sure we wont get caught , Logan ?"

" No one comes up here at night , " stated Logan , with a smirk ," plus I paid the janitor to tell people that he's like working on pipes and stuff up here . We're alone, I swear ."

She touched the side of his face, lightly ." I love it, Logan "

" You wanna dance with me ?" asked Logan , his eyes on hers ," I have all your favorite songs ."

" I would love to dance with you " Quinn wrapped her arms around his neck, tightly as he slid his hands to her waist and they swayed to the soft rock music playing between them ," no one has ever done anything like this for me before .."

" I've never done anything like this for a girl before but your special, Quinn " admitted Logan, against the curve of her neck ," you know that. Right ?"

She grinned against is neck, heart tumbling in her chest and her pulse quickening even as she found it hard to find her breath. She was beginning to get used to the feeling that being around Logan brought her or why did it feel like all of her emotions were tied up with one Logan Reese ? She didn't want to be one of those girls who needed the guy like air but then she had never felt for anyone what she felt for him either .

Quinn was terrified right down to her ankle laser .

" I know "

Logan played with her curls , loving how soft her brown hair always was ." I was thinking, babe, would it be so bad if we maybe were nicer to each other , in front of our friends ?"

Quinn lifted her face, puzzlement written across her pretty face. " No..I mean, why would you ask me that ? If we act any differently towards each other they will figure out that we're dating, Logan "

" The thing is …" Logan knew he had to tell her the truth and take a chance ruining the whole romantic evening versus not telling her ," Vince already knows about us . He confronted me about it after practice today and before you say anything, he is totally cool about us ."

Quinn backed away from him, fear pushing its way to the top as she whirled around to look at her boyfriend , shocked .

" Vince Blake knows about us ? How , Logan , how does he know about us ? What did you tell him ? Did you deny it or is this another random thing like with you telling Chase about us too ?"

" I didn't tell him anything , he already knew , Quinn ! Vince said that we're obvious ! I tried to lie my way out of it but he didn't buy it because guess what , he saw me touching your leg in the lounge the other day and you didn't slap me ! What was I supposed to do ?"

Quinn bit the inside of her lip, concentrating hard on a solution to their problem but only imagining worse case scenarios involving Vince spilling the beans to Lola .

" You could have lied better , Logan ! What if he tells Lola ? Do you know ..can you even imagine what Lola would do if knew I am with you ? It wouldn't be pretty and they are dating …Lola is serious about him so she could still find out about us ."

Logan took Quinn's hands into his own , trying to still her before she went crazy .

" Quinn, I got this one," reassured Logan, wanting to soothe her nerves ," trust me , please . Vince isn't going to say anything about us and it's cool ."

Quinn sent him a piercing look ." Did you pay him , Logan ?"

" I didn't pay him ," countered Logan earning him a disbelieving look from her ," I offered him cash but he didn't want it . He wants us to hang out together and he wont say anything about us …..its lame I know but I believe the guy ."

Quinn crossed her arms in front of her chest ." We barely know the guy, Logan, and he could be lying to you…why would he want to hang out with you ?"

Logan scowled at her . " Thanks a lot, Pensky , loving the support here , babe . I can be a friend too, you know ! Michael, Chase, and I are good friends, we're bros so its understandable why Vince would want to hang with me ."

Quinn softened , crinkling her nose and realizing she had wounded him without meaning too . He may have insensitive jerk written all over his façade but he was actually sensitive underneath it all..

" I know you're a good friend, sweetie, I shouldn't have said that ," Quinn tried not to cry ," I just…no one is supposed to know about us ."

Logan pulled her closer into his arms ." Vince is cool and no one else will find out about us ," declared Logan, vowing to himself that no one would ," we just have to be more careful around each other though he said we're obvious ."

" But we fight at least three times a day and all the I hate you's ," countered Quinn," I think we've been pretty good , creative even on the name calling lately between us ."

" Real creative ," agreed Logan, wishing he had been more careful than just blurting it out but he always had troubles when it came to serious matters ," look, I don't want to ruin our night. I just had to tell you …"

Quinn bit her bottom lip, worriedly ." No, your right , Logan, and we both did agree that focusing on our relationship was more important than worrying about everyone else even though you completely caught me off guard with this bit of information ."

" Come on , sit with me " Logan settled onto the lounge chair, pulling Quinn down between his legs and wrapping his arms around her ," look , we've got a awesome view of the stars out , we're together , and its pretty romantic . Right ?"

Quinn sighed and dropped a kiss on the underside of his jaw , tenderly .

" It is pretty up here and peaceful ," admitted Quinn, entwining their hands ," I really enjoyed rooting for you at practice today , Logan , though I did notice those vapid trollops shaking their little skirts trying to get your attention .."

Logan preened a bit ." The cheerleaders love my hotness , always have .."

Quinn elbowed him sharply in the ribs ." Well as your girlfriend, I wish I could tell them that their little manipulative , seductive innuendoes towards my boyfriend aren't appreciated , not at all ."

Logan had to laugh even as he was touched by her concern ." I haven't even flirted with another girl since we got together, Quinn. Okay, I might look …" She narrowed her brown eyes through her black frames as if she didn't believe him, " you know I look but I wouldn't do anything to screw up the best thing to ever happen to me ."

Quinn felt tears crinkle at the corner of her eyelids and was afraid she was on the verge of falling in love with Logan . Was it possible ? Wasn't it too soon ?

Instead the brunette simply lifted her face to his kissing him softly , passionately .

" I think I finally found the perfected the mild nerve gas I've been working on," babbled on Quinn, ignoring his confused expression which she found adorable ," I just need to test it on myself . Last time there was a five second time lapse before it actually worked and it had no affect on rodents at all which is interesting if you think about it ."

His brows furrowed together ." Huh ? "

" Wait, I'm not crazy about you testing all your Quinnventions on yourself ," confessed Logan with a mild frown ," don't yell at me, I know you're a scientist and its what you do but you knocked yourself out for like an hour last time . That cant be good for you ."

" It was a mild side affect but I am touched at your concern for me ," Quinn nestled closer to his chest ," so are you volunteering to be my new test subject ?"

" I really like you but no ," remarked Logan , because as much as he trusted her , sometimes her genius frightened him .," hey, Dustin is trying to earn some extra cash. I could offer him like fifty bucks and you can use him to test it out ?"

Quinn considered this , tempting ." That would be wonderful but Zoey would be mad at me ," admitted a wry Quinn," I'm not allowed to do anything fun and no more running tests on Dustin unless she approves it . Somehow I don't think she would be on board for me testing out my new and improved nerve gas on her little brother .."

" The kid is what, 13 ? Think he doesn't need Zoey calling the shots for him " grumbled Logan with a shrug ," Brooks throws a fit every time I hire him to do stuff for me but Dustin knows a good thing when he has it . I pay him good money …."

" Zoey is just protective of him " defended Quinn , evenly ," Logan, are you tired from your practice ? "

A yawn escaped him as he pressed his nose in her hair , brushing it aside.

" Yeah but I'll sleep when I get back to the dorm ," muttered Logan, under his breath," I'm good with us talking and me holding you .."

" This is about perfect ," sighed Quinn , content ," its like we're a real couple , you know what I mean, enjoying the quiet of the night on our special day ."

Logan would never know just how moved she was for this romantic rooftop date . When she had been with Mark, he never remembered their anniversary or made any attempt to celebrate with her either .and they had been together 2 years .

A month with Logan had already exceeded any expectations she had and knew that it would only get better for them from here on in or so her heart told her so .

******************************PCA***************** ******************

Lisa stretched , warming her body up as she practiced in her room for her audition piece for Desdemona , mindful that her interpretation was bound to be different from all of the other girls . Lola could be overdramatic with the theatrics but she was a drama favorite .

Howeverr, she was a much stronger singer than Lola was and hoped this worked to her advantage. She considered herself quite laid back in her thinking and as easy going as the next girl ( which is why she and Zoey were great friends ) but this competitive war with Lola was weighing on her .

Was it the harsh words from Lola or the niggling insecurity at the back of her mind that Lola was into Michael ?

She refused to give in to the gossip around PCA and she trusted Michael more than anything and Lola might be a world class flirt but she knew deep down she wasn't the type of girl to go after a friends boyfriend .

" Looking limber and fine, my Lil Lisa " Michael interrupted her musing and exercise ," working on your audition stuff ? You are a shoo in to win for sure " He leaned in to drop a short kiss on her mouth ," Hmm, wonder why its shoo ? I mean we're not shoo-ing a bee away and it has nothing to do with shoes we're wearing .."

" Or it might " Lisa indicated her dance shoes and pulled him into her room ," I thought you were chatting with Chase tonight ?"

" I can't get a hold of him, I don't know what the dude is doing over at Covington tonight but Chase isn't answering his text messages either " Michael plopped down on the couch, pulling Lisa with him," so thought I'd come see my woman ."

Lisa let out a worn out sigh and rested her head against his shoulder.

" I will be so relieved when auditions are over tomorrow ," confessed Lisa ," the stress of this stupid war is driving me insane, Mike . "

Michael rubbed her arms, soothingly ." Me too ."

" You'll blow them away with your song, get the role, and things will be back to normal "

" Or Lola will never forgive me and hate me even more ," added Lisa with a slight nod at her boyfriend ," and ultimately destroy your friendship with her as well ."

Michael was taken back. " Lisa , don't say that. That negativity is uncalled for and that wont happen , Lola isn't going to hold a grudge ."

Lisa chewed on the inside of her cheek ." Or she might . Neither of us expected her to act like such an immature drama queen over these auditions either ."

Michael kissed her brow . " It will all blow over after those auditions and be like it never happened . You want to go in the lounge and watch some TV and order some food ?"

He was beat, she was tired , and chilling together in the lounge was relaxing to them both .

" Sounds wonderful ," agreed a grateful Lisa , moving in to kiss him ," I'm in the mood for something funny and oh I want some egg rolls ."

" Funny television and some egg rolls coming right up " declared Michael, taking her hand ," your wish is my command ."

" Awww Michael , I love you " Lisa slid her feet into a pair of sandals and allowed him to lead her out of her dorm and back towards the lounge for the rest of the evening distractions .

" I love you too, Lil Lisa " grinned Michael, thankful that his simple idea had worked .

He didn't need a dang guide anyhow , he could wing the romance and keep his woman happy and still in love with him .

He just wished his fuzzy haired freak of a best friend would answer the stupid phone .

*****************************PCA****************** *********************

Covington, England

" One incredibly cool Blix machine with five awesome flavors " announced Chase with a wide grin as he surveyed the newly installed fountain in the lounge with a sense of accomplishment and a bit of homesickness , " Thanks, guys ."

There were excited murmurs in the common lounge as the teenagers were anxious to try these new Blix flavors that the American had been waxing on so poetically for weeks - apple berry , orange mango, zingleberry , kiwi lime, grape .

They still loved their tea but the lure of Blix and the candy machine filled with fat free doodle cakes, potato chips , Bing Bongs and an assortment of chocolate and junk food was enough to have them waiting to see who would try them out first .

It was a big day here at Covington .

Hannah was all but bursting with energy as she grabbed a paper cup . " I have to try the apple berry . This is so amazing , Chase ! "

He was modest . " You'll love it though it's more berry than apple ."

" I want to see what all the Blix fuss is about myself ," Colin reached for his own glass and with a quick smile at Hannah opted for the grape ," Chase goes on and on about it practically all of the time .and a doodle cake ."

Chase had already bought himself a doodle cake then handed the other one to his not so stuffy roommate . " Doodle cakes go really good to balance out the Blix , Colin ."

Colin eyed the cake warily ." Fat free ?"

" You cant taste the free of the cake , trust me and the school got a better deal on the reduced fat than the fatty doodles " explained Chase who had been involved in the entire process since it had been at his insistence that Covington needed the machines for the students sanity added to the common lounge .

Hannah finished the last of her drink, a warm smile spreading across her face.

" Delicious " declared Hannah, putting her cup on the counter and throwing her arms around Chase's neck," you were right . I knew you were right, Chase ! This is going to make this school much more fun than normally …"

Colin nearly squished his doodle cake, fighting through his jealousy .

" Hannah, let the fellow have some air "

Chase turned red from embarrassment ." Air would be appreciated , Hannah . I do like to breathe , you know, and um, Colin actually helped me get the Blix machine . Oh yeah, the man knows what words to use when my American ones weren't doing the trick ."

Hannah released Chase and looked unrepentantly at the blonde haired young man who until recently had been in his own world but with the arrival of Chase was now really coming out of his shell . She didn't know what to make of it .

He tugged at his collar , uncomfortable underneath her scrutiny . " I merely agreed to Chase's suggestions that it would make our room more accessible to all students ."

" You did well too, Colin " Hannah surprised herself by hugging her friend , not noticing that he was turning three shades of red from embarrassment .

" Never let it be said that I am stuffy Colin ever again "

Chase muffled a laugh with a fake cough ." Who would say that about you, Co-lin ?"

Hannah giggled ." Most of the students here at Covington but its nice to see your opening up more too ."

Colin took a drink of his Blix ." Glad that you have noticed, er, me ."

Just then Chase's phone went off alerting him of another test message from Michael .

" Hey guys , I'll be back to hang in awhile ," decided Chase ," looks like Michael is wanting to talk so I'm going to head back to the room to see what's going on there ."

" Have loads of fun " called Colin, who was adjusting to the constant PCA chats from his roommates friends at all hours of the night and the day .

Chase waved and headed out of the lounge unaware that Hannah had been following him until she called out for him, then caught his arm .

" Chase , wait ! "

Chase heaved a sigh and turned around to face the pretty girl . " What's sup ? "

" Am I doing something wrong ? Do you not like me , Chase ?" demanded a perturbed Hannah, who had been flirtatious with him and very blunt about her feelings for him but was fed up with his lack of interest in her .

Chase gestured with his hands, motioning to himself then her ." Uh, no, Hannah, " stumbled Chase , thinking this was bad ," I mean, what are you talking about ? I think that you ..you are a great girl …and we're friends so that means I like you ."

" Finally " Before Chase could react, Hannah planted a smart kiss across his mouth .

" Gah ! No, I mean, no , don't ! " Panicked Chase stepped back from her and waved his hands in front of his face as if warding off an attack, " ugh ! Hannah , you kissed me ! Why oh why would you do that ?"

" Because I've been waiting for weeks for you to kiss me and you are too polite about it so therefore I kissed you, Chase Matthews "

" Polite ," Chase pulled at his bushy hair," there was a reason behind the no kissing thing ! Because ..because another guy likes you and there is the guy code and the honor code and then the fact is that I cant go around kissing you when I am still in love with Zoey Brooks , Hannah ! "

Hannah gave him a filthy stare and folded her arms , together ." Another guy likes me ?"

" Yes , another guy who is kind of cool and really decent but who isn't me , Hannah ! Just now I was a jerk because when you kissed me I felt like I betrayed Zoey which makes me insane since we're not together but that is how I feel about it ."

" Zoey obviously doesn't share your feelings , Chase , so you should just forget about her by being with me ! "

" Maybe but my heart doesn't work that way, " explained Chase ," I'm sorry ."

Hannah opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it ." You are nothing by a coward, Chase Matthews "

" True " agreed Chase, whole-heartedly ," it's a proven fact ."

" Why wont you consider me ? You love this Zoey so much you cant see what is right in front of you, Chase ?"

" Pathetic , I know, but there it is ," stated Chase , simply ," Zoey has always been the girl for me and I guess she always will be but you know , Colin likes you ."

Hannah blinked behind the start of her tears ." What ? "

" Colin fancies you so you should give him a chance " blurted out Chase , without thinking ," he's not so bad and he is kinda cool now , not so stuffy or nerdy ."

" Colin likes me ? " Hannah tried to process ," that is the most absurd thing I have ever heard , Chase ."

" Absurd things can be good though ! Trust me, I can give you examples of weird things that turned out good , Hannah ! It's not just me trying to make you not hate me for not being into you like that or anything .."

" I don't want to date Colin, I want to date you, Chase " announced Hannah , firmly as Colin stepped into the crossfire of their hallway argument , stopping as the redhead stormed off down the hall towards her room, leaving Chase standing there .

" You told Hannah I wanted her ? How could you do that to me , Chase ? " asked an anguished Colin, humiliated ," I thought we were working on a plan and you just tell her that I am into her ! "

" She put the moves on me , man ! She got mad at me when I told her I still love Zoey and I ..I don't know it just sort of came out that you were into her , Colin ! "

" Now she'll want nothing to do with me at all, " groaned a frustrated Colin," thanks , Chase, appreciate the bloody way you destroyed my pride "

" Colin, come on, it was an accident ! Plus who knows maybe once Hannah calms down she'll see that you are much better for her than I would ever be "

" You're a stupid nit , Matthews ! Stay out of my life from now on ! " Colin stormed off angrily ," so much for us being so called bloody friends and the like now "

Chase slumped against the wall, frustrated and disgusted at himself .

" We are friends ," muttered Chase , with a heart heavy sigh of despair ," God, I just need to get out of here and go back to PCA "


End file.
